Top official says 1,990 villages in Andhra Pradesh affected by heavy rains, floods
2.31 lakh people living in 211 villages and 23 towns have suffered due to inundation
NELLORE: Principal secretary (Disaster Management) Usha Rani has informed centre’s inter-ministerial team deputed to AP that 1,990 villages in 199 mandals of four districts in AP have been the worst-hit due to recent heavy rains and floods in the state.
In a power-point presentation to the central team at Tirupati on Saturday, she detailed the damages in Anantapur, Chittoor, Kadapa and Nellore districts. Attributing the damages to unprecedented rainfall in a single day on November 19, Usha Rani pointed out that Pedda Mandyam mandal in Chittoor district recorded 200 mm of rain while Nallacheruru mandal in Anantapur received 193 mm. She pointed out that a chain of tanks built during Sri Krishnadevaraya’s regime in Chittoor district had breached or got severely damaged because of heavy rains.
As many as 44 persons have been killed in the floods and 15 are missing. 2.31 lakh people living in 211 villages and 23 towns have suffered due to inundation. 98,514 houses got inundated, with 5,740 houses of them getting damaged.
The principal secretary thanked union government for responding to request of Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy, deputing the central team to AP and also arranging two helicopters for rescue of victims. She said the state government has offered ₹ 5 lakh to kin of people who have died during floods, apart from ₹ 2,000 cash, rice and essential commodities to victims of floods. She also informed the central team that crops have been damaged in 2.86 lakh hectares. 75 per cent of the damaged crop is paddy.
Usha Rani requested centre for sanction of special funds to restore the damage. The central team asked state officials to submit department-wise damages. It assured that it will submit a report to the centre after visiting the affected areas in Nellore, Chittoor and Kadapa districts.
The central team visited several affected areas in Tirupati on Saturday. Tirupati legislator Karunakar Reddy and Chittoor collector M. Harinarayanan explained to the team about the flood fury at a photo exhibition arranged in Tirupati. The team interacted with victims of floods in the worst-hit areas, including the Chandragiri segment. Area legislator Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy was present with them.
Members of the central team include Kunal Satyarthi, Abhey Kumar, K. Manoharan, Srinivasu Bairy, Shivani Sharma, Sharvan Kumar Singh and Anilkumar Singh.