15 killed in the state due to floods

Mahabubnagar,  Oct  1 :

 Flash floods have claimed 15  lives in Andhra Pradesh as heavy rains lashed several parts of the state, inundating low-lying areas, disrupting vehicular traffic and snapping electricity and communication lines, according  to reports  received  here on Thursday.

The rains, caused by a depression in the Bay of Bengal, flooded rivers and streams, inundated low-lying villages, threw normal life out of gear and damaged property and crops in several districts all over the state. Authorities have set up control rooms in Mahabubnagar and  Kurnool districts to monitor the flood situation.

Thousands of people were displaced as floodwaters  entered their houses while  scores of rivulets crossed their danger mark, crops submerged, communication network paralysed and several men who went for work on Wednesday evening were caught in the middle of swirling rivers.

The worst affected are from the southern part of Mahabubnagar district. All the 176 tanks in the district of Mahabubnagar  had  breaches.  Ten mandals in the  district   received more than 20  cms  of  rain  while  Uppunutala mandal recorded the highest rainfall of 30 cms.

Four  rehabilitation centres were set up  by  the  Government in the Gadwal mandal  to cater to  the  needs of  flood affected  people in the district. The  fishermen in the  district were warned not to go for  fishing in view of  the flash floods.

RTC Bus marooned:-

A Road Transport Corporation bus plying   from  Anantapur  to Hyderabad  was  caught  in flood waters  with  36  passengers on board.  Efforts are on to rescue the passengers by the district authorities. The shopping complex in Wanaprthy town has been inundated with flood waters.

Kurnool hit by flood waters :-

Meanwhile  reports  from Kurnool say that  the situation in the  district  of Kurnool is  no better  than that  of Mahabubnagar.  Gudur, 30 km west of Kurnool city, recorded the highest rainfall of 220 mm in the last 24 hours followed by Adoni 192 mm, Mantralayam 191 mm, Pedakadubur and Kurnool city 190 mm. All the heavy rainfall centres are located in the catchment of Tungabhadra, Hundri and Vakkileru that surround the Kurnool city from three corners.

All the  low-lying  areas  in Kurnool  city  are  flooded  with waters and  the  people living in the low-lying  areas  are being shifted to safer places. The  joint  collector  is  supervising  the  relief  works in Kurnool town. The Sunkesula barrage over  river  Tungabhadra is discharging  3.30 lakh cusecs of  flood  water. The district  authorities  have set up 21 relief centres to accommodate the flood  hit  people in  Kurnool.  Most of the rural areas remained inaccessible to the official machinery.