VIJAYAWADA: Normal life came to a grinding halt as heavy rains lashed the city for two hours on Thursday. Traffic snarls were reported across the city as several arterial roads linking Five Route, Nakkala Road, Chuttugunta, Machavaram, Moghalrajpuram, and Autonagar were completely inundated.
Several colonies turned rivers as commuters struggled to wade through the rainwater in the evening. Key junctions, including NTR circle, Ramavarappadu, Lenin Centre, Besant Road, Pushpa Hotel junction, Mother Theresa statue, Krishna Lanka, Ramalingeswara Nagar, Yanamalakuduru, Ashok Nagar, Gollapudi, KR market, VMC office junction and Benz circles, saw knee-deep water stagnating on the roads.
The major retail business centre in the city, Besant Road, was filled with rainwater even as drainage water overflowed on the streets and entered several shops. As a result, people faced a tough time stepping out of their homes.