Heavy rain lashed different parts of the drought-affected Prakasam District under the influence of deep depression in the southwest Bay of Bengal on Monday. The rains, which came after a long dryspell brought cheers to ryots longing for rains to save their withering crops.
The low-lying areas in the city were covered under a sheet of water in the wake of moderate rainfall of 2.7 cm.
Weather officials predicted light to moderate rain and thundershowers at many places in the district with heavy rain and thundershowers at a few places in the next 48 hours.
Fishermen were asked to return to shore as the sea is expected to remain rough in the next 48 hours. Weathermen predicated strong average wind speeds of 40 kmph gusting at 70 kmph during the period.
District Collector Sujatha Sharma reviewed the situation and put the mandal-level officers on alert. A control room was opened with a toll free number 1077 for people in distress to get in touch with the officials.
''The rains are life-saving for standing crops of red gram, black gram, cotton and chillis in 6.20 lakh acres in the district, where all the 56 mandals faced drought-like situation'', said Agriculture Joint Director J. Muralikrishna.
The district on an average received 9.7 mm, said Chief Planning Officer P.B.K. Murthy. Singarayakonda received a maximum rainfall of 8.8 cm in the last 24 hours followed by Kothapatnam (8.5 cm) and Kandukur (6.3 cm), Ulavapadu (4.7 cm), Gudlur (4 cm), Tangatur (3.2 cm) and V.V. Palem (3 cm).
Published - November 09, 2015 01:18 pm IST
