Cuddapah town under water, 18 dead

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT. 16. At least 18 persons were killed, the train services between Chennai and Gudur were suspended and thousands of people were rendered homeless when the cyclone crossed the coast near Sulurpet at 8.30 a.m. today.

Cuddapah town saw the worst inundation in recent memory, and most parts of the town lay under waist-deep water when the lifting of four crest gates at Buggavanka dam aggravated the misery of the people. Sulurpeta received 26 c.m. of rain in 24 hours till 8.30 a.m. while Nellore got 25 c.m. The cyclone weakened and started to dissipate after crossing the coast.

Trains between Renigunta and Cuddapah were suspended as the track lay under water. Trains from Vijayawada towards Chennai were stopped at Gudur.

Traffic on National Highway No. 5 between Chennai and Kolkata came to a halt near Gudur. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, will be visiting the worst- affected areas tomorrow.

Our Cuddapah Staff Reporter reports: Eighteen persons died in house collapses as waist-deep water flowed in most parts of the town and the surging waters touched the roof of houses in the Nagarajupeta area here. The water levels were rising till late in the evening.

Scores of people were stranded on rooftops waiting to be rescued but the district administration was waiting for boats to take them to safety. The District Collector, Mr. Adar Sinha, said that they had formed teams of workers to clear storm water drains and roads.

People living in the low-lying areas have trekked to safer places.

The District Collector, the Chairman of Zilla Parishad, Mr. K. Suresh Babu, the local MLA, Mr. Khaleel Basha, and the TDP leader, Mr. K. Sivananda Reddy, were among those who attended to relief work.

The backwaters of Somasila project inundated several villages in Atlur mandal in the Badvel Assembly constituency and the villagers were being evacuated.

Gopavaram mandal received a rainfall of 180 m.m. causing the breach of three tanks - Racheruvu, Sangasamudram and Palakunta - in the mandal.

The breaching of the tanks made the adjoining Badvel town waterlogged in most parts.

According to a report from Nellore, the district administration has geared up the machinery and put the staff on high alert following the imminent release of nearly 4 lakh cusecs of water from Somasila reservoir.

Some of the floodgates have been opened and the water is likely to enter nearby villages at any time. M.R.O s of eleven mandals on the river side - Anantasagaram, Kaluvoy, Atmakur, Chejerla, Sangam, Podalakur, Buchireddipalem, Kovur, Nellore, Vidavalur and Indukurpet - have been asked to provide relief and arrange shelters.

The District Collector, Mr. K. Praveen Kumar, has instructed that sufficient quantities of rice should be rushed and water in satchets be supplied.

According to reports, the Somasila reservoir got about 6 lakh cusecs inflow in the afternoon but later it came down to 4 lakh cusecs and may again go up.

In view of exceptional circumstances it has been decided to release 4 lakh cusecs.

There was a possibility of water flow in the reservoir getting kicked back into Cuddapah district and nine villages - Kodamaluru, Chenduvayi, Rangampalli, Chukkayyapalli, Kommuru, Rachapalli, Madduru Harijanawada, Jonnavaram and Bayyakkagaripalli - are likely to be affected.

Trains affected

Movement of trains from Nellore to different places has been severely disrupted due to breaches and water stagnation on tracks at different places.

According to Railway sources, there has been a cut at Oduru track near Gudur on Chennai line. A breach or cut has also been reported at Kondagunta between Gudur and Venkatagiri line resulting in serious disruption to movement of several trains. Some long-running trains are expected to run through Renigunta.

Our Staff Reporter in Vijayawada writes: The Vijayawada- Chennai (2711) intercity Pinakini Express was terminated at Gudur and the train returned to Vijayawada Gudur- Vijayawada (2712) Express. The Secunderabad-Tirupati (7406) Krishna Express was also terminated at Gudur.

The Indore-Trivandrum (6325) Express, Shalimar-Kanya Kumari (6355) Express and the New Delhi-Trivandrum (2626) Express were diverted via Guntur and Guntakal.

Four more express trains were regulated (stopped temporarily) at different stations. The Guwahati-Bangalore (5626) express was regulated at Gudur station, Howrah-Tirupati (7479) was regulated at Nellore, Ahmedabad-Chennai (6045) was regulated at Bitragunta and Howrah-Chennai (2841) was regulated at Kavali station.

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