The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : ‘Nisha’ claims 5 lives, batters 3 districts

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Sunday, Nov 30, 2008
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

‘Nisha’ claims 5 lives, batters 3 districts

R. Srinivas and M. Venkateswara Rao

Property loss put at Rs. 100 crore; road link to Chennai cut off and all tanks in Nellore full

Traffic disrupted as several rivulets are swollen; district machinery on full alert
5,000 weavers’ families affected as rain water enters pits in which the looms are installed

NELLORE/ONGOLE: Heavy rain continued to batter Nellore, Prakasam and Chittoor districts for the second consecutive day on Saturday even as five people including a two-month-old baby were reported to been killed due to the incessant rain.

The deceased were identified as P. Jayaramaiah (35), K Penchalamma (60), S. Madhavaiah (40), Vanitha (25) and her daughter Sneha (2) and an ex gratia of Rs. 1 lakh has been announced by the district administration. The two districts received rainfall in excess of 10 cm under the influence of the cyclonic storm ‘Nisha’ that resulted in extensive damage to crops and cut off roads disrupting the traffic movement.

Recorded rainfall

Low lying areas in Ongole town were flooded while the habitations located on the banks of canals in Nellore district face threat of inundation as all the tanks were full. Kanigiri in Prakasam district registered the highest 19.5 cm followed by 18 cm each in Korisepadu and Cherlopalli while several other towns too witnessed above 15 cm rainfall. Transport on Chirala-Narsaraopet, Chirala-Inkollu and Darsi-Addanki was affected as several rivulets were swollen.

Property worth Rs. 100 crore including roads, water schemes and communication equipment were damaged in Nellore district alone. Crops over 1.8 lakh acres suffered damages in Prakasam where officials were estimating the loss to tobacco, sunflower, chillies.

Nellore Collector K. Ramgopal told reporters that 3,000 houses were fully damaged and 800 were partially damaged due to rains. About 5,000 weavers’ families were affected as rain water entered in the pits in which the looms were installed. The district administration was on alert and asked Revenue, Irrigation, Panchayat Raj, Police and other departments’ officials not to leave the mandal headquarters.

Somasila project in Nellore district and Gundlakamma in Prakasam received heavy inflows. Nearly 7,900 cusecs of water was being released from Gundlakamma which was inaugurated recently by the chief Minister.

A swollen rivulet near Sullurpet in Nellore district snapped off the road link to Chennai. The Swarnamukhi river rose near Srikalahasti in Chittoor district, causing anxious moments to officials.

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