KURNOOL: With roads to villages being submerged by floodwater, a 65-year-old retired bank employee died on Sunday as he couldn’t be taken to hospital on time. The deceased, G Thamash, suffered a heart attack, and had to be carried by his family on a cot to an ambulance more than four kilometres away. By the time they reached, he was dead.
His village, Brahmanapalle, in Chagalamarri mandal of Kurnool district, has been submerged by the rains, which caused the Vakkileru and Maddileru Vagu to overflow and snap road links.
The 250 families in the village have been cut off from the outside for the past two days, with the Kundu river, KC Canal and Maddileruvagu overflowing.
When Thamash got severe chest pain on Sunday morning, his relatives called 108 for an ambulance, but the vehicle couldn’t travel beyond Gotluru village as the roads were under water. They then carried him on a cot at least four kilometres, and took him on a tractor for about a kilometer to the ambulance. But by the time they reached, he was dead.
Chagalamarri medical officer Dr Gangadhar told the media he arranged an ambulance, but it couldn’t reach the village as the local streams had overflowed onto the road.
Even Brahmanapalle’s neighbouring villages of Nelampadu, Gotluru and Kalugotla in Chagalamarri mandal have been flooded due to the incessant rains. Residents of these areas sometimes have to go days together without food, drinking water and power supply for days at a stretch, said D Obulesu, who lives in Nelampadu.
B Shiva Kumar, of Brahmanapalle, said at least 1,500 acres of fields have been submerged by floodwater. The villagers have demanded that the authorities immediately make arrangements to ensure transportation in case of emergencies.
At least 200 people in these villages, including pregnant women, are waiting for regular medical check-ups, the villagers said. They staged a protest on Sunday, demanding immediate construction of a bridge over the Vakkileru Vagu.