As heavy rains continued to lash Visakhapatnam, a house in the city collapsed, killing a pregnant woman and her baby son. The house, which had a tin roof, collapsed after a wall came crashing down on it. The accident killed 23-year-old Ramalakshmi and her son Gyaneshwar who was 1 year and 9 months old.
The house was located in the Mulagada housing colony, in Ganpati Nagaram of Vizag’s Gajuwaka suburb. “Because of continuous rains and excess water flow, a mudslide occurred resulting in the collapse of a wall behind their house,” Gajuwaka CI Malleswara Rao said. The accident happened on Sunday night around 10 pm. Ramalakshmi’s husband survived with a few injuries, police said.
Several parts of Andhra Pradesh have been receiving heavy rains, as predicted by the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD). The Weather Department had issued an orange alert to district administrations, asking them to be prepared for floods.
As of Sunday afternoon, the low pressure off the east coast of India had concentrated into a depression over west central Bay of Bengal by Sunday morning and moved westwards, bringing incessant rain to many parts of the state. The depression lay about 400 km southeast of Visakhapatnam.
Visakhapatnam District Collector Vinay Chand told the media that the depression has resulted in heavy rains in the Godavari districts as well as Visakhapatnam. “A few mandals are likely to get light to moderate rainfall, while most mandals along the coast are likely to receive heavy to heavy rainfall. Fishermen have been warned against venturing into the sea 48 hours in advance due to strong winds,” he said, adding that while the winds may not be very strong, the continuous rainfall poses a danger of collapse of structures. He said that district and ward level officials are on alert to undertake relief measures wherever needed.
Thunderstorms with lightning are expected at isolated places across the state on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday as well.