ANANTAPUR: At least three persons, including a gram panchayat sarpanch, have died in separate lightning strikes in Anantapur district, which is witnessing heavy rains since the past two days.
Devunuppalapadu sarpanch K. Ramamohan, 33, of Peddapappur mandal was returning in tractor carrying sand when rains started on Saturday evening. He took shelter under a banyan tree near Chagallu. Lightning struck and killed him on the spot.
Ramamohan of YSRC had been elected sarpanch recently and is survived by wife and two sons. Heartrending scenes were witnessed in Devunuppalapadu village.
Two shepherds Mohanlal Naik and Thimmappa of Bommaganipalli had taken their sheep to village outskirts for grazing on Sunday. When rains started, they took shelter under a tree. Lightning struck them and they too were killed on the spot.
Heavy rains are continuing to lash Anantapur district since past few days, resulting in filling of irrigation tanks but causing massive damage to existing crops. After a gap of many years, Pennar River is flowing heavily in the district due to incessant rains in Anantapur and upstream Chikkaballapur district of Karnataka.
During the past few days, medium irrigation Pennar-Kumudvathi project, where two rivers Pennar and Kumudvathi meet in Parigi mandal of Anantapur district, has received heavy inflows. 1,125 mm of rainfall was recorded in Anantapur district on Sunday alone. Hindupur received 77.6 mm rainfall, followed by Yellanur, which witnessed a downpour of 71 mm.
