Chittoor got a breather as the heavy rain that battered the eastern mandals of the district pause from Monday night but a slight drizzle started up by Tuesday noon. Water continued to gush in the Swarnamukhi and Kalangi rivers.
The ceiling of a building in Yellappa Reddy quarter of Gopal Raju Colony in Tirupati collapsed in the small hours of Tuesday, injuring two persons. Built in the early 1970s sans a pillar structure, the building located very close to the railway station caved in in the unrelenting rain that lashed Tirupati for 36 hours at a stretch. One resident, Mounika (6), was injured in the incident. A neighbour who rushed to her rescue was also injured as a portion of the slab fell on his legs. Both were rushed to the SVR Ruia Government General Hospital for treatment.
Meanwhile, the cancellation of trains towards Gudur continued to pose a problem for travellers. The railway authorities could restore the track towards Kadapa and diverted trains to this route. The South Central Railway general manager is expected to fly into the city to inspect the tracks damaged by sliding boulders and mud. “The rain has not yet stopped in Nellore and repair work cannot be taken up until the water recedes. We expect that the track will be restored tonight,” a senior railway official said.
Absolutely clueless about the situation, several passengers stranded at the station continued to throng the enquiry counters for updates.
Similarly, the road network has also been cut off on several routes. The APSRTC has suspended its services towards Nellore due to the extensive damage to the road. The Yerpedu-Venkatagiri highway, Srikalahasti-Tada and Srikalahasti-Pichatur road have been cut off due to the swelling of the Swarnamukhi and Kalangi rivers, besides the breaching of several tanks. “The Tirupati-Kadapa highway has been repaired and we have restored operations,” said V. Nagasivudu, APSRTC regional Manager for Tirupati.
The Tirupati-Kanchipuram service has been restricted up to Arakkonam as a bridge beyond the town has been damaged. Tirupati-Chennai services of APSRTC remain unaffected as they take the Narayanavanam-Uthukota route, but the Tamil Nadu Transport corporation’s services are having to take a detour due to damage to roads in in Tiruvallur district.
People continued to throng the banks of the Swarnamukhi river, which is flowing after a gap of ten years. The river flows west-to-east south of the temple city and has causeways at Thondavada, Chiguruvada, Tiruchanur and Gajulamandyam on the roads leading to Chandragiri, Ramachandrapuram, Pudi and Puttur respectively. “It was in 2004-05 that I saw the Swarnamukhi flowing,” recalls Someswara Rao, a retired employee of Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD) and a resident of Tiruchanur.
