Continuous rain batters AP, 20 die in separate incidents

About 65,000 people have been moved to safer places in north coastal district of Srikakulam as incessant rains threatened to inundate low-lying areas, officials said on Friday.

This is the second time in a fortnight that the administration has moved people in large numbers from low-lying areas in this district. About 90,000 people were evacuated in Srikakulam, bordering Odisha, when cyclone Phailin hit the eastern coast on October 12.

Meanwhile, the official death toll in rain-related incidents has increased to 20 so far as several districts in coastal Andhra and Telangana regions have been experiencing heavy rains and flooding under the impact of low pressure for the past 3-4 days. Hyderabad was witnessing traffic jams due to water logging in 60 places across the city, the officials said.

Chief minister N Kiran Kumar Reddy on Friday reviewed the latest situation and asked the officials to deploy more teams for rescue and rehabilitation. Ten teams of the national disaster management have been sent to Nalgonda, Mahaboobnagar, Prakasam, West Godavari and Visakhapatnam, according to the officials. About 135 relief camps have been set up in these areas.

The weather department predicts continuous rains for the next 24 hours with very heavy downpour likely in the Telangana region. The officials said situation in low-lying areas in the state capital may further deteriorate as the water levels had reached full levels in the Hussain Sagar lake threatening to inundate the low-lying areas.

Crops in an extent of 434,000 hectares, mostly paddy and cotton, were reported to have been damaged due to the inundation caused by the rains, according to the latest estimate.

A total of 68,000 people have been shifted from low-lying areas, chief minister’s office said.