3,000 people evacuated in East Godavari

Kakinada, Nov 15 (UNI) A Red alert was sounded in 14 mandals along the coastline in East Godavari district of Andhra Pradesh as the cyclonic storm 'Khai Mukh' is likely to cross the coast between Kakinada and Machilipatnam any time tonight.

East Godavari District Collector Gopalakrishna Dwivedi told newspersons here that eight relief camps were opened in five cyclone-prone mandals of Katrenikona, Uppalaguptham, Sakhinetipalli, Kothapalli and Malkipuram.

Nearly 3,000 people residing in low-lying areas were evacuated, he informed.

In Uppada village in Kothapalli mandal, 300 people living in 70 thatched houses were evacuated and sheltered in Mandal Parishad school, as these houses are on the verge of collapse due to sea erosion.

He said the Road and Bridge engineers were instructed to repair the 50 m stretch of road and the causeway damaged by the tidal waves along the beach near Uppada Kothapalli on a warfooting within three days.

Meanwhile, power supply in Kakinada and neighbouring towns was disrupted for more than three hours in the evening following a temporary shutdown, enforced as a precautionary measure in view of heavy gales.

The East Godavari district received 41.3 mm rainfal till noon, while Kakinada was experiencing intermittant rain accompanied by gales. The mandals close to seashore received torrential rains for sometime in the evening.

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