TIRUPATI: Heavy rains with thunderstorms since early Saturday paralysed normal life in Tirupati and Chittoor districts, flooding low-lying areas and prompting the India Meteorological Department (IMD) to issue an orange alert for the next 24 hours.
In Tirupati city, floodwaters entered residential colonies in the eastern parts, submerging homes and inundating key underpasses at Lakshmipuram Circle, Narayanapuram, West Church, DR Mahal and RC Gate. Police cordoned off the routes and halted vehicular traffic.
District authorities mobilised police, fire and disaster response teams for rescue operations.
Morning activities collapsed as milk vendors, vegetable sellers, newspaper distributors and commuters struggled to move through waterlogged streets.
Schools declared holidays, while two-wheelers broke down in waist-deep water. Tirupati Municipal Corporation (MCT) Commissioner N Mourya directed sanitation teams to work round-the-clock to clear stormwater drains. Health Officer Yuva Anwesh Reddy supervised sanitation and relief operations with additional manpower deployed in vulnerable colonies.
All waterfalls in and around the temple town of Tirupati, including Malwadi Gundam and Kapila Theertham, received heavy inflows Chandrasekhar Reddy Colony, Lenin Nagar, Postal Colony, Madavanagar, Akkarampalle, Korlagunta, Jeevkona and downstream areas of Kapila Theertham were among the worst-affected, forcing several families to move their belongings to safer ground.