Heavy downpour for 12 hours on Wednesday wrecked havoc in Guntur District of Andhra Pradesh snapping railway and road links besides inundating several hundreds of acres of cotton, paddy and chilli fields on Wednesday. The major drains - Kondaveedu and Ogeru, have been in spate cutting off road links to Sattenapalli, Amaravathi, and Chilakaluripet.
A woman was feared washed away while trying to cross a swollen rivulet at Lam near Tadikonda. The woman, yet to be identified, hailed from Amaravathi. She along with another person was trying to cross the rivulet when she accidentally slipped and fell into the swirling waters. Locals tried in vain to rescue her.
Rail link snaps
Rain water seeped under the railway track between Nallapadu and Perecharla snapping the Guntur-Narsaraopet railway link. Railway engineers were carrying out emergency operation to restore the rail link. As a result, Vijayawada–Hubli passenger and Bhubaneswar-Bangalore Prasanthi Express, have been diverted via Tenali, Renigunta.
Areas in Guntur inundated
Following heavy inflows into Kondaveedu drain, the road link between Guntur and Amaravathi was cut off.
Guntur city bore the brunt of prolonged downpour as many low-lying areas got inundated. The lack of an efficient stormwater drainage system was exposed as roads resembled streams with overflowing drains. Schools declared a holiday on Wednesday in view of heavy rains. Flood waters entered the Citizen Charter buildig at Guntur Municipal Corporation office.
Flood waters entered the MRO, NSP offices at Chilakaluripet forcing the personnel to shift the files to a safer location.
