Heavy rain in the district since Friday night has thrown normal life out of gear in several mandals. Reservoirs were filled to the brim while rivulets were in spate in Parchur, Inkollu, Addanki, Santhamagaluru, Madipadu and S.N.Padu mandals.
After a long gap, the storage in Cumbum, Asia’s biggest tank, rose to 0.35 tmcft as against the full level of 2.95 tmcft following an inflow of 739 cusecs while the storage level at the Obul Reddy Gundalakamma reservoir rose to 3.61 tmcft as against the full level of 3.86 tmcft following an inflow of 1,192 cusecs, irrigation department sources said. The irrigation authorities let out 9,450 cusecs into the Bay of Bengal anticipating an increase in inflows in the wake of incessant rain in the catchment areas of the reservoir.
Vehicular traffic hit
Flash floods in Gundalakamma affected vehicular traffic between Giddalur and Nandyal in Kurnool district. Rainwater entered over 200 houses in Giddalur as Sagileru was in spate. The Gundalakamma vagu disrupted vehicular traffic between Anumalapalle and Akiveedu near Racherla.
Meanwhile, Prakasam Police launched a rescue operation as a tractor, a lorry, an APSRTC bus, an earth-mover were stranded in flooded rivulets in Raavipadu, near Cumbum, Kothakota and B.Nidumanaru, near N.G. Padu, which left large tracts of farm lands in a sheet of water. A tobacco seedling-laden tractor was also caught in flash floods at Raavipadu. A team of police personnel from Cumbum rescued four farmers caught in the swirling waters. Water from a breached tank entered Chadalavada village, which houses centuries-old famous Raghunayaka temple.
About 20 persons were rescued from the stranded vehicles at Kothakota and B.Nidamanaru by a team of police personnel led by Ongole Rural Circle Inspector P.Subba Rao on the arterial East coast highway. Vehicular traffic between Ongole and Chirala was disrupted as water from the breached rivulets flooded the highway.
Boy drowned
In another incident, an eleven-year-old boy drowned in the Ambadipudi Cheruvu, overflowing due to flash floods, on Saturday. Passers-by jumped into the swollen chervu and took two boys out of the flooded canal. But one of them died while being rushed to hospital, Ballikurava Sub-Inspector M.Sivananchariah said.
The district registered an average rainfall of 78.7 mm in the last 24 hours. Racherala recorded a maximum rainfall of 186 mm during the period followed by J.Pangalur(184.4mm), Inkollu(171mm), Chinaganjam(160.8mm), Addanki(148.8mm), Giddalur(148.2 mm), N.G.Padu(146.4 mm), Parchur(121.4mm), Maddipadu(113.8 mm), Karamchedu(110.8mm) and Ongole (43.4 mm).