A tornado-like wind from the Kolleru lake damaged 60 to 70 prawn culture ponds in four villages of Akividu mandal of West Godavari on Tuesday. Information about the damage came to light only on Wednesday when some of the villagers of Kollaparru and Gummulu uploaded videos taken from their cell phones to media persons.
Villagers of Chinna Kapavaram, Taratava, Kollaparru and Gummulu reported seeing violent storm with whirlwinds in the agriculture fields. A dark funnel-shaped cloud caused damage along its path from the lake, they said.
Satyanarayana Raju, watchman at one of the prawn culture ponds on the Kollaparru village outskirts, said it was very hot and humid on Tuesday right from the morning and he saw formation of dark clouds around 6 p.m. “Suddenly wind from Kolleru Lake with heavy speed which resembles like during cyclones surrounded my hut. All the workers in the prawn ponds ran helter skelter to save their lives. The tornado-like wind uprooted palm trees and a few huts in our village,” he said.
The villagers of Gummaluru said the prawns and fish in their ponds were damaged because of the funnel-shaped cloud.
According to preliminary information from all the four village revenue officers, prawn culture and fish ponds in 60 to 70 acres in their villages were damaged due to the destructive wind.
However, Sub-Collector of Narasapuram Sumit Gandhi said he did not have information about any damage in the Akiveedu mandal which comes under his sub-division. “When I contacted my local MRO, he said no property or human loss had taken place.” He said he came to know about these winds only through media reports on Wednesday.
On the other hand, K. Ramachandra Rao, Director of the Visakhapatnam Cyclone Warning Center, said he came to know about the incident through the electronic media and they had no inputs from that area. “I could not make any comment unless and until I get complete details about the tornado-like wind,” he said.
