Flood toll mounts to 31 in AP

Hyderabad, Aug 4; About 31 people were killed in rain-related incidents and 60 persons were untraced as heavy rains under the influence of a depression, wreaked havoc in Coastal Andhra Pradesh, throwing normal life out of gear and disrupting road and air traffic.

According to officials, more than 5.07 lakh cusecs were discharged from Srisailam and 4.44 lakh cusecs from Nagarjunasagar across the river Krishna and over 11 Lakh cusecs from the Dowleswaram barrage this evening as the river Godavari crossed the second danger level mark to touch 51 ft at the temple town of Bhadrachalam.

Diasater Management Commissioner Debabratha Kanta told UNI, about 18 people were killed in two land slides.

Eleven people of Varakavadi village in Vizianagaram district died and seven in Araku valley in Visakhapatnam district. Twelve people were feared buried under debris, he added.

Five people were killed in rain-related incidents elsewhere in Visakhapatnam district, while East Godavari accounted for five deaths and Srikakulam three deaths each.

Reviewing the flood situation with Ministers and Senior Officials of various Departments, Chief Minister Y S Rajasekhara Reddy announced an ex-gratia of Rs 50,000 to the family of the deceased and directed his Cabinet colleagues to rush to the affected districts to coordinate rescue and relief operations. According to officials, air services continued to remain disrupted in coastal Andhra region, as rain water entered the airport in Visakhapatnam and poor visibility led to cancellation of flights to Rajahmundry from Chennai and Hyderabad.

As many as 50 fishermen, who ventured into the sea from Kakinada were missing, according to reports received.

Hyderabad Meteorological Department Director M Satyakumar said, under the influence of the depression, the Telangana region would continue to witness heavy rains in the next 48 hours, while the intensity of the rainfall activity would come down in the coastal region, as the system moved in west north-west direction from Chattisgarh.

Nagavalli and Vamsadara were also overflowing, inundating more than 600 villages in Srikakulam and Vizianagar districts with the south-west monsoon turning vigorous in Coastal Andhra and Telangana.

Irrigation Minister P Lakshmaiah told newspersons here that, planning measures were released in advance. In order to minimise inconvenience to people, the state government had directed officials to fill up 1580 tanks and ponds with 15.75 tmc water.

UNI