Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu has been touring the flood affected areas in Vijayawada following heavy rains which hit the Telugu states on Sunday, September 1. CM Naidu has been working with officials from the NTR district collector's office to supervise rescue and relief operations.
Andhra Pradesh witnessed heavy rains for the past three days. Cloudbursts with rainfall of 29 cm to 34 cm in a few hours triggered the floods. Traffic flow on national highways came to a halt with overflowing of flood water and a large number of train services were cancelled.
Multiplying the flood devastation, the Budameru stream passing through Vijayawada city submerged several colonies forcing nearly two lakh people to take shelter on the terrace or first floor of their buildings to save their lives.
The CM has also stated that he will stay put in Vijayawada until the relief and rescue operations are concluded. Floods in Budameru have inundated Singh Nagar, Nandamuri Nagar and other low-lying areas in Vijayawada, affecting two lakh people.
CM Naidu also visited the flood-hit area around midnight to assure the affected people that the administration would take care of them. The next morning, he again visited them to enquire if they received food and drinking water.
The Chief Minister also contacted Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union Home Minister Amit Shah and apprised them of the present flood crisis. He requested them to treat this flood devastation as a natural calamity. The Union government deployed 10 NDRF teams, 40 power boats and six helicopters to aid the state government's rescue operations.