HYDERABAD: Heavy rain which lashed the State during the last 24 hours claimed ten lives. The Government has put the authorities in several districts on alert in view of floods and forecast of more rain.

The meteorological authorities said the low pressure area which brought heavy rain was likely to intensify into a depression. They issued heavy rainfall warning for Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Visakhapatnam, East and West Godavari, Khammam, Warangal and Karimnagar districts.

According to reports reaching here, four persons were killed in Kurnool district -- three in wall collapse. A 19-year-old youth was washed away in a swollen rivulet at Pathikonda. A 32-year-old person died in wall collapse in Jangaon and a woman was swept away in Regonda mandal in Warangal district.

Three washed away

Three persons were washed away in floods caused by Rallavagu in Mancherial, Adilabad. Two of the victims were identified as Gujjula Ramu (17 ) and Swami (22), residents of Kothagudiselu slum. The third person was yet to be identified.

At Vijayawada, Shaikh Nagar Babu (18) was killed when a compound wall caved in after boulders fell on it. A report from Karimnagar said coal production of 30,000 tonnes in the four open cast mines of the Singareni Collieries was affected by the incessant rain.

YSR cancels visit

Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy reviewed the situation at a high-level meeting and directed Revenue, municipal, medical, panchayat raj and police officials to be vigilant against possible damage and outbreak of epidemics. He asked them to take up timely rescue and relief measures in the affected areas. Dr. Reddy, who was scheduled to visit Adilabad for his "Rajiv nagarabaata" programme, cancelled it owing to inclement weather.

Dr. Reddy told Collectors and SPs to shift people to safer places, deploy special teams to alert people to be cautious while crossing swollen rivulets and streams. He directed them to requisition the services of Roads and Buildings and Panchayat Raj engineers to restore breached and damaged roads and minor irrigation tanks.

Control room set up

According to Shashank Goel, Commissioner, Disaster Management, heavy rain caused inundation of low-lying areas in several districts, including Nalgonda, Guntur and Karimnagar. As many as 254 houses were damaged in Kurnool district. Fourteen minor irrigation tanks were breached, 11 in Kurnool and three in Warangal district. Four Panchayat Raj tanks were breached in Kagaznagar (Adilabad district). A control room was opened at his office with telephone nos. 23451043/23456005. A report from Warangal said the APSRTC had to cancel 30 rural services due to overflowing tanks and rivulets. Normal life in the district was paralysed and Bhupalapalli town remained cut off from the district headquarters.

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