39 FEARED DEAD IN TN, ANDHRA RAIN DISASTER

At least 30 people were feared to have died when they got washed away in floodwaters from Cheyyeru river as the earthen bund of Annamayya reservoir in Rajampet of Andhra Pradesh’s Kadapa district was breached after heavy rain and nine people, including four children, died in north Tamil Nadu’s Vellore district in two separate incidents Friday.

The heavy rainfall in north Tamil Nadu districts and south Andhra districts and parts of Rayalaseema since Thursday night was due to a depression that crossed the coast of north Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh between 3am and 4am on November 19, India Meteorological Department officials said.

Vellore collector P Kumaravel Pandian said a house destroyed by the flood was very old and located along the banks of a river near Pernampet. “Four people resided in this house and as the rain got heavier people from adjacent houses moved to the first floor of this house on Thursday night for shelter,” the collector said.

“The house was already in a dangerous condition because it is old and due to rain, it weakened further and around 7.15 this morning the house collapsed,” the collector said. Among the four children who were crushed to death, three were girls. Several others are receiving treatment at Gudiyatham Government Hospital and Government Vellore Medical College Hospital in Adukkamparai.

Flooding in some localities of Bengaluru city was also reported due to continuous rainfall since November 11. The Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP) said no adverse incident was reported and a few people from low-lying areas were shifted to shelters as a precautionary measure. However, no flooding was reported in Chennai, which has reported massive water-logging on at least two occasions in the past month.

In Andhra Pradesh, Kadapa district authorities confirmed that three bodies – that of a conductor and two passengers of a state-run Road Transport Corporation bus that was stranded in floodwaters from Cheyyeru – were recovered. Unconfirmed reports said 12 bodies were recovered till evening.

Apart from the three bodies from the RTC bus, seven dead bodies were recovered at a temple in Gundluru village, and two others in Mandapalli village. “Search operations are on for others who are believed to have been washed away in the floods,” an official, who did not wish to be named, said. Meanwhile, Prime Minister Narendra Modi called up the chief minister and enquired about the flood situation in the state.