The residents of Papanaidupeta and Padipeta were witness to the fury of the flash floods a fortnight ago that had washed away many bridges across the Swarnamukhi, flowing south of Tirupati.
Residents of Vedallacheruvu and Papanaidupeta, falling under Srikalahasti constituency of Chittoor district, during an interaction with Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Thursday, recounted their agonising experience with the incessant rains and the aftermath.
The bridge connecting Papanaidupeta and Gudimallam caved in due to the recent flood, due to which the villages in the mandal remained submerged for days, with continued rains hampering relief and rehabilitation work. Mr. Reddy offered all support on behalf of the government.
Accompanied by Ministers P. Ramachandra Reddy, K. Narayanaswamy, and M. Goutham Reddy; Members of Parliament M. Gurumoorthy (Tirupati) and P.V. Midhun Reddy (Rajampet); and Collector M. Hari Narayanan and Joint Collector Raja Babu, the Chief Minister watched the damage caused by the floods through a photo exhibition.
The expo brought out the damage caused to the R&B, Rural Water Supply, Agriculture, AP-Transco, Irrigation and Panchayat Raj departments.
At Vedallacheruvu ST Colony, he inspected the houses that turned ramshackle due to the floods and gave a patient hearing to the victims who narrated their woes.
MLA B. Madhusudhan Reddy said that the floods had not only disrupted connectivity to 15 villages but also submerged vast extent of crops ready for harvest.
Mr. Jagan will visit the inundated Auto Nagar and Krishna Nagar areas in Tirupati constituency and Padipeta in Chandragiri constituency on Friday.
