Heavy rains trigger landslides in Vijayawada, 4 die; schools shut, alert sounded

Vijayawada: Heavy rains triggered rockslides in Vijayawada killed four persons and a few were injured.

The incident occurred in Mogalrajapuram when landslides damaged houses. Few people were buried under the debris. Rescue operations were immediately launched and two people were rescued.

CM Nara Chandrababu Naidu announced an ex-gratia of Rs 5 lakhs each for the deceased families.

Andhra Pradesh is experiencing heavy rains prompting the government to shut down educational institutions.

In Vijayawada, heavy rains have led to widespread disruption. Continuous downpours caused flooding, in low-lying areas.

Besides Vijayawada, Machilipatnam also received 18 cm rainfall, followed by Gudivada (17 cm), Kaikaluru (15 cm), Narasapuram (14 cm), Amaravati (13 cm), Mangalagiri (11 cm) and Nandigama and Bhimavaram (11 cm each).

Several other places across the state registered rainfall between 1 cm and 9 cm, according to a data shared by the Meteorological Department.

Several roads in Guntur town and also Kaza toll plaza between Vijayawada and Guntur were inundated with rain water.

Kanaka Durga temple ghat road has been temporarily closed after rains triggered rockslides and uprooted trees.

Chandrababu Naidu reviewed the situation. He directed the officials to stay vigilant. He instructed all government departments to remain on high alert, ready to assist with rescue and relief operations.

Municipal Minister Ponguru Narayana has put officials on high alert, urging them to take immediate measures to prevent waterlogging in low-lying areas and on roads.

According to the India Meteorological Department, a well-marked low-pressure area over west-central and adjoining northwest Bay of Bengal off north Andhra Pradesh & South Odisha coasts moved west-northwestwards, intensified into a depression, and lay centered at 5.30 am on August 31over the same region near latitude 17.5°N and longitude 84.5°E.

It is likely to move further west-northwestwards and cross north Andhra Pradesh and adjoining south Odisha coasts between Vishakhapatnam and Gopalpur close to Kalingapatnam around midnight of August 31. Under its influence, heavy to very rains are likely to occur in the state.

For the next four days, scattered heavy to very heavy rain likely to witness at isolated places over North Coastal AP, South CAP and Yanam. Strong surface winds with speed 30-40 Kmph likely at isolated places over NCAP, Yanam, SCAP and Rayalaseema.

Rise in water levels

The Central Water Commission (CWC) warned that most of the rivers in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana are expected to swell over the next two days.

As increased water flows are expected into several projects such as Nagarjunasagar, Srisailam, Thottapalli, Madduvalasa, Sriram Sagar and others, the CWC called for water discharge as per standard operating procedures (SoPs) after informing the downstream areas.