Normal life hit in Andhra, Telangana

Heavy rains continued to lash parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the second consecutive day on Sunday, disrupting normal life as many villages that were cut off from the mainland due to overflowing streams and rivulets, while several localities in the urban areas witnessed heavy water logging.

In Telangana, as many as six districts -- Warangal, Siddipet, Adilabad, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Bhadradri Kothagudem and Mulug were affected, while in five districts Andhra Pradesh -East Godavari, West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur and Kurnool districts were badly-hit.

According to the Indian Meteorological Department bulletin on Sunday afternoon, the heavy rains were the result of a lowpressure area over north coastal Odisha and adjoining areas of northwest Bay of Bengal and Gangetic West Bengal with the associated cyclonic circulation extending up to 9.5 km above mean sea level. “It is very likely to move west-north westwards and

HYDERABAD :

weaken gradually during next 48 hours. A fresh low-pressure area is likely to form over north Bay of Bengal around August 19,” the bulletin said.

Telangana’s Warangal district received heavy rainfall ranging from 10 cm to 27 cm in next 48 hours, the weather agency bulletin stated. Following an SOS message from the Warangal (urban) administration, the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation sent three disaster response force teams. “We shall take part in the rescue operations along with Warangal (Urban) district machinery,” Enforcement, Vigilance and Disaster Management director Viswajit Kampani said.

Meanwhile, the water level in Godavari at Kunavaram and Polavaram in Andhra Pradesh’s West Godavari district has also been rising alarmingly. At Dowleshwaram in East Godavari, the authorities opened the gates of the Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage as a result of which several island villages in Konaseema area was submerged. “We are keenly monitoring the situation in 27 floodprone blocks in East Godavari district,” an official release said.