VIJAYAWADA: Vijayawada received another spell of rain on Thursday, with showers briefly pausing around 4.30 pm before resuming. Schools remained closed for the second consecutive day due to incessant rain, with water accumulation reported in some areas.
VMC Commissioner Dhyana Chandra directed officials to clear stagnant water using pumps and asked engineers to inspect their respective areas and take up desilting wherever required.
NTR district recorded 707.4 mm cumulative rainfall between 8.30 am and 3 pm, with an average of 35.37 mm. Vijayawada Central and Vijayawada West recorded the highest rainfall at 53.2 mm each, followed by Ibrahimpatnam at 51.6 mm and Kanchikacherla at 47.2 mm.
In Krishna district, 811 mm rainfall was recorded between 8.30 am and 5 pm, with an average of 31.2 mm. Kankipadu recorded 46.2 mm, followed by Gudivada at 43.6 mm and Bapulapadu at 43.4 mm.
The IMD has forecast rain over Coastal Andhra, along with thunderstorms and strong surface winds. In Jaggayyapeta, Joint Collector S Ilakkiya inspected cotton fields at Makkapeta village and spoke to farmers about the impact of rain. She inspected Lingala bridge and asked officials to monitor water flow at bridges, streams and other water bodies.
Officials released 10,000 cusecs of surplus water from Prakasam Barrage. NTR Collector G Lakshmisha said there was no need for concern over Budameru and asked people not to rely on unverified information. He said officials were monitoring water flow and water levels in the Budameru catchment and would alert people if the situation changed.
Following heavy rain and strong gales that damaged houses in Chintalapadu village of Tiruvuru mandal, NTR Collector Lakshmisha, along with MLA Kolikapudi Srinivasa Rao, undertook a field inspection on Thursday.
Lakshmisha directed officials to enumerate every damaged house and prepare a report detailing fully and partially damaged houses for submission to the government to ensure compensation to all.
He inspected rehabilitation centre sheltering victims and enquired about food, drinking water, power, sanitation and medical facilities. He directed staff to ensure uninterrupted services until rain receded.
VMC Commissioner Dhyanachandra instructed officials to examine the root causes of water stagnation at the field level and ensure permanent solutions so that water did not stagnate again in cleared areas. He also ordered the deployment of staff to monitor rising water levels at Budameru Canal and Prakasam Barrage and directed Chief Engineer P Satyakumar to submit hourly reports on water level status.
3K workers deployed to clear waterlogging
The GMC has deployed around 3,000 public health workers and 250 officials on the ground to tackle waterlogging and other issues arising from heavy rains in the city