TIRUPATI: The rain gods have not opened up in the last 24 hours bringing some respite to the citizens here. There are no traces of roads and bridges in remote villages of Chittoor and Nellore districts. According to an estimate by the state Roads and Buildings (R&B) department, the loss incurred in two spells of rain, as of now, stands at `488 crore.
Speaking to Express, R&B Engineering Chief M Gangadhar said that places like Sullurpet, Naidupet and Venkatagiri, including some parts of Chittoor district, have been deeply affected with torrential rains. “A survey on breached roads and bridges have begun and the report would be submitted to the government soon,’’ he said.
Following heavy rains, Rivers Kalangi, Pamula Kaluva, Swarnamukhi and Pambaleru are now brimming with rain water and have breached adjacent roads resulting in severe damage to the common man. “The high-level engineering team conducting a survey in various parts of Chittoor and Nellore districts, over the last two days, considered the two rain spells as ‘never-before’ in the state’s history. In Chittoor district, the water flow in Swarnamukhi River is rampant and breaches have damaged roads in all the remote villages,” the officer said.
Chief Engineer KV Nagaraj said that In Nellore District, road links between Venkatagir-Manneguda-Kabjagunta, Naidupet-Rapur and Yerpedu-Chennuru have been hugely damaged. ‘’The badly hit area is Guduru region. The two km stretch between Sullurpet-Santaveluru road was totally inundated for three consecutive days,’’ he informed, adding that Gudur-Tippaguntapalem and Gudur-Vinduru stands next in the list.
However, the two officials mentioned that the department had taken up temporary restoration works where more than 80 per cent of the damaged roads would function in the next couple of days. “Of the total 52 areas as many as 41 roads have been repaired. The remaining 11 breaches will be restored very soon,” Nagaraju said.
Meanwhile, the road connectivity from Sullurpet to Chennai and vice versa is functioning. More than 14 RTC buses are plying and carrying 90-95 passengers per trip.
“Following the plugging off breaches and restoration of transportation, many commuters have stepped out,” Assistant Traffic Manager N Sivaiah, Sullurpet depot said.
“Even, the train passengers have been compensated with bus routes from Guduru and Nellore as the track restoration work in Tamil Nadu state is still in the process,” he added.