Parts of Andhra Pradesh’s Nellore and Chittoor districts saw heavy to very heavy rainfall on Thursday, November 11. In the coastal district of Nellore, Sullurpeta recorded 184.4 mm rainfall, and Tada village recorded 136.2 mm rainfall. In Rayalaseema’s Chittoor district, Satyavedu recorded 105.6 mm rainfall, while the Tirupati Aero weather station recorded 79.5 mm rainfall. A few areas including Tirupati witnessed inundation and uprooting of trees due to the heavy downpour.
District authorities said that mandal level teams have been constituted to handle the rains. In Chittoor district, a school holiday was announced on Thursday due to the weather. Chittoor district collector M Hari Narayanan told the media that the gates of the Kalangi and Araniar reservoirs were lifted, and people residing in the low-lying areas were alerted. Six relief camps are operational in the district with 406 people who have been evacuated from their homes, he said.
In Nellore district too, in all the coastal mandals, fishermen and other residents have been alerted, with red alert messages sent out and fishing boats brought in to be anchored, Nellore district collector KVN Chakradhar Babu told the media. Around 70 families have been evacuated from low-lying areas in the district so far, and relief material is being provided to them, he said. Cyclone shelters have also been prepared.
The low pressure area over southeast and adjoining south west Bay of Bengal, which had concentrated into a depression on the evening of November 10, Wednesday, is likely to cross north Tamil Nadu and the adjoining south Andhra Pradesh coasts around Chennai during the evening of November 11, Thursday, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD).
According to the IMD, the heavy rains over Tamil Nadu and Andhra are likely to decrease from November 12, once the depression enters land on Thursday and weakens subsequently. Until then, the rainfall activity resulting from the depression will be more over Andhra Pradesh on Thursday, IMD said.
Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority (APSDMA) noted that the impact of the depression is likely to result in heavy rains in isolated places in coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema. One NDRF team and two SDRF teams have been deployed in Chittoor district, and one NDRF team has been deployed to Nellore district, the APSDMA said.
Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy took stock of the emerging rainfall situation in the station Thursday;. He called for a high alert in a video conference with collectors of Prakasam, Nellore, Chittoor, and Kadapa districts, in view of the heavy spells of rain in many districts. The Chief Minister instructed the district collectors to set up relief camps and to provide Rs 1,000 as a relief to every victim.
State officials said priority is being given to power restoration works, plugging breaches to canals in case of the damage and supplying safe drinking water to all those affected areas.
(With IANS inputs)