Man dies as boulder rolls onto his roof in city

A man succumbed to injuries after a small boulder rolled on his asbestos-roofed house at Christurajapuram.
The condition of Durga Rao’s room after the accident on Monday | Express
The condition of Durga Rao’s room after the accident on Monday | Express

VIJAYAWADA: A man succumbed to injuries after a small boulder rolled on his asbestos-roofed house at Christurajapuram. Upon receiving information, revenue officials, accompanied by VMC staff, reached the said hill slope and directed the officials to shift the residents to rehabilitation centres. 

According to revenue officials, the deceased was identified as R Durga Rao (28), a carpenter. The incident took place in the early hours of Monday, when a small boulder rolled down Durga Rao’s house following incessant rains due to cyclone Phethai. Responding to the incident, Krishna District Collector B Lakshmikantham directed the officials concerned to provide Rs 50,000 ex gratia to the family of the deceased. Machavaram police filed a case and launched an investigation over the incident. 

Vijayawada East constituency MLA Gadde Ramamohana Rao consoled the family members of the deceased at Vijayawada New Government General Hospital and handed over the ex gratia. 

With heavy rains lashing the city for the last two days, residents on the hill slopes, fearing landslides, appealed to the officials concerned to make arrangements to shift them to rehabilitation centres. 

Though such incidents occur in the city regularly, no concrete measures were taken by the officials to identify a permanent solution for the perennial problem. “The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has set up a 24x7 control room at its administrative office to provide assistance for residents of low-lying areas in the view of alerts for cyclone Phethai,” said VMC chief J Nivas. 

Nivas said that a team of health officials, led by medical officer Iqbal Hussain, will monitor the situation in the city from the control room. Residents can register their complaints pertaining to waterlogging or flood-related issues to the control room and seek assistance to prevent the spread of seasonal diseases, he said. Officials were also instructed to shift the residents on hill slopes to rehabilitation centres.

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