Nellore, November 29: Heavy rains continued to lash Chittoor and Nellore districts on Monday affecting normal life in both the districts. Under the influence of northeast monsoon and the cyclone brewing up in the Arabian Sea, both the districts received copious rainfall and in some places irrigation tanks have breached. Vidavaluru town was submerged in water.
District collector B Sridhar has directed the officials to remove the silt from the canals using proclainers so that water flow would recede to some extent.There is increased inflow into the Somasila reservoirs, with inflows reported to be 18,500 cusecs, while outflow is 7,800 cusecs. Water levels in Penna river have also increased and the engineers were forced to stop the ongoing barrage works. With inflows into Sangam project increased, transportation system has been badly affected in Chejarla and Podalakur.
Kalangi reservoir in KVB Puram mandal of Chittoor district had reached its full reservoir level of 220 feet and excess water is being released downstream. According to officials, 5000 cusecs was released. All villages and lowlying areas downstream of the project have been put on alert. People from low lying areas are being shifted to safer places. However, with water levels in Krishnarajapuram in Karvetinagaram receding, the gates of the projects have been closed today. In Nagalapuram, a jeep got washed away in a stream due to a flash flood and was found struck near a tree a few kilometers away.
A control room has been setup at the district collectorate and for any emergency one can contact 0877240500. Joint collector Vijay Mohan, DRO O Seshaiah, Tirupati RDO A Prasad and other officials are closely monitoring the situation in the district.
–Agencies