Rain toll goes up to 56

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD, OCT 17. The toll in the wake of heavy rain in southern coastal and Rayalaseema districts went up to 56 today as the rain left the entire rail and road systems totally in disarray and rendered about 26,000 families homeless in Nellore and Cuddapah districts.

A group of 16 devotees, who worshipped at Yellama temple in Panyam in Kurnool district, were washed away in a sudden flood caused by the breach in a nearby tank.

Some 40 persons were feared dead in the flashfloods following the abrupt release of water from the Buggavanka dam. Some 16 persons were feared to have been killed when the Government Drivers' Association building was washed away. Of the 20 persons atop the building, only four survived.

A retired Veterinary Department employee, Mr. Kondaiah, died in a house collapse in the Nagarajupet area. Some 11 bodies were traced at various parts in the town including at Vinayaknagar in Cuddapah town. The officials were making efforts to identify the bodies.

The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, who went to Cuddapah to see the extent of devastation, was confronted by a hostile crowd of cyclone victims who asked him why advance notice was not given before the crest gates of Bogguvanka dam were lifted resulting in inundation of Cuddapah town.

They openly complained against the local District Collector. Mr. Chandrababu Naidu agreed that advance intimation ought to have been given and he said he was ordering an enquiry. The State Government requisitioned the services of Military Engineering Service engineers to repair the badly damaged roads immediately. Hundreds of train passengers were stranded in places like Vijayawada and Guntur as train services were disrupted due to derailing of a goods train on the Mangalagiri-Guntur section, the falling of boulders on the Donakonda section of Guntur-Dhone section and disruption of track in the Gudur-Chennai section.

Long distance passengers, who were tired after long delays, were wondering as to when they would reach their destinations. A train took six hours to cover the distance between Ongole and Nellore compared to the normal journey time of two hours.

The cyclone crossing the coast just before the Dussera holiday season added to the woes of hundreds of families who planned their tours much in advance but got stranded during the journey. A further issue that is adding to the woes of people of Andhra Pradesh was the strike by employees of Road Transport Corporation which entered the third day today.

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Section  : Southern States
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