Heavy rain lashed the city and all towns in central coastal Andhra districts, including Krishna, putting traffic out of gear at many places, while bringing cheer among the farming community.
Sowing operations began in right earnest in majority of the mandals of Krishna district with the average rainfall in the district recorded at 23.1 mm on Sunday. Mandals in Vijayawada and Gudivada Revenue divisions received 23.5 mm and 26.6 mm with Vijayawada Urban and Rural mandals including the city proper receiving the maximum in the district at 95.8 mm and Nandigama getting the minimum of 1.4 mm.
A bottleneck
The Low Bridge on the National Highway, as usual, turned a bottleneck for the traffic between Vijayawada and Hyderabad and vehicles were diverted via the flyover to reach the foothill of Indrakeeladri and serpentine queue of four-wheelers and buses was visible.
Wynchpeta in the city also got large copious rainfall leading to the main road getting inundated. The day also witnessed hectic activity with the birth anniversary of former eminent engineer Dr.K.L. Rao and young engineers dated the rain to reach the venues.
The roads otherwise looked deserted in many of the residential areas till evening with some respite from evening.
All the three irrigation canals in the city were full with water.
The vendors had a difficult day with many of those selling vegetable waiting for buyers till late in the evening covering their ware with plastic sheets.
VMC caught unawares
The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation was caught unawares with majority of the main roads in the city turning into canals as rainwater overflowed for over two to three hours in many areas as the side drains were clogged. Locals removed the blockages to let the rainwater flow to drain out water.
