Hyderabad: At least 12 people lost their lives in the havoc caused by the relentless rains in many parts of Andhra Pradesh. Even as the state government was assessing the damage caused by the heavy rains and floods, especially in the Telangana region, more rains have lashed other parts of the state.
Revenue minister N. Raghuveera Reddy said that more rains are expected over the next 48 hours in Telangana and Andhra regions. He urged the people to remain alert. “We have already put the administration on the alert,” he said.
Cyclone warning centre in Visakhapatanam has warned of more rains with gale winds as yet another low pressure area was formed over the Bay of Bengal.
Revenue minister said that 8,360 people affected by the rains and floods so far were kept in the relief camps. Helicopters were used to drop food and water packets in the marooned villages of Khammam district.
He announced an ex gratia of Rs200,000 (Dh12,300) to the kin of the people who died in the rain related mishaps. He put the extent of crop damage due to the rains and floods at more than 100,000 acres.
“13 districts of the state have received more than normal rains,” he said. More than 5,204 houses have been damaged by the rains and floods and power supply was disrupted to 804 villages.
Hundreds of families in the island villages in East Godavari district were also marooned due to the floods in river Godavari and authorities were trying to move them to the relief camps by using special boats.
Even as Godavari river continues to be in spate and it had crossed the danger signal number three at Bhadrachalam, water inflow had increased into projects on river Krishna for the first time this season.
With increase in water level in Jurala project, authorities have started generating power and inflow in to downstream Srisailam project had also increased. Officials said that water level in Srisailam had touched 806.5 feet and 81800 cusecs of water had started reaching the project.
Meanwhile the state Congress president Botsa Satyanarayana said that the rains and floods had caused more losses in the districts of northern Telangana region.
He promised that the state government will provide seeds on subsidised price to the farmers who had lost their crops.
