Man washed away, villages marooned as rivulets swell

A man was reportedly washed away in an overflowing stream near Kanchikacherla in NTR District on Sunday (September 21). Road connectivity had been cut-off to many villages on A.P.-Telangana border in NTR and Eluru districts as incessant rains left rivulets in spate.

The incident occurred when the victim, K. Srinivas of Bathinapadu of Kanchikacherla mandal, was crossing Nakkala Vaagu, which was overflowing on the road, locals said.

Road connectivity has been cut-off to about 15 villages in Tiruvur, Gampalagudem, Kanchikacherla, Kambhampadu and Mylavaram mandals due to heavy rains.

Pickets arranged

Police and Revenue officials arranged pickets as Munneru and Kattaleru had inundated the ‘saptas’ (low lying bridges). At Choutapalli, Vedulla Vaagu was in spate, villagers said.

In the Agency areas of Eluru district, many streams were overflowing, causing severe hardship to the tribespeople.

Police, Revenue, Panchayat Raj, ITDA and other department officials cautioned the villagers about the heavy rainfall forecast, and asked them not to cross canals and rivulets.

Alert issued

Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) officials on Sunday alerted the public over heavy rain forecast in the State over the next few days.

APSDMA managing director Prakhar Jain said moderate to heavy rains will occur in ASR, Visakhapatnam, Anakapalli, Parvathipuram Manyam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts in the next 24 hours. Similarly, light to moderate rains are forecast in Konaseema, Kakinada, East and West Godavari, Krishna, NTR, Guntur, Bapatla, Nellore and Prakasam districts, Mr. Jain said.