There seemed to be no end to the woes of the people of South Coastal Andhra Pradesh, who were already reeling under the impact of Cyclone Nivar even as the weather system weakened into a well-marked low pressure area on Saturday.
Farmers of Nellore and Prakasam districts, who suffered crop loss in over 1.40 lakh hectares, were in for more trouble with the Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting more rain from December 1 under the influence of a fresh system brewing in the Bay of Bengal.
CM pats Collector
Meanwhile, Nellore district Collector K.V.N. Chakradhar Babu came in appreciation from Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy for effectively handling the situation arising out of heavy rain and floods and preventing loss of human lives in the district.
After an aerial survey of the flood-affected areas, the Collector explained the Chief Minister that the rains had caused a loss of ₹998.05 crore in the district.
Putting the loss suffered by the farmers at ₹788.66 crore, the Collector said that 299-km of roads, two bridges, 18 scours, and 94 irrigation tanks were damaged causing a loss of ₹217.39 crore.
Over 17,000 people, including 5,800 in Nellore city, were in relief camps as the low-lying areas and those close to the banks of the Penna were inundated.
“The intensity of the downpour has come down in the catchment areas,” Somasila reservoir Superintending Engineer N. Krishna Rao said while putting the inflow at 1.45 lakh cusecs.
Irrigation Minister P. Anil Kumar coordinated the relief operations in the flooded areas in Nellore city, while his Cabinet colleague and Industries Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy travelled by a boat to reach the marooned villages in Chejerla and Sangam mandals affected by the peak inflow of 4.5 lakh cusecs from the reservoir.
“The government is fully prepared to face the two more weather systems forecast,” Mr. Goutham Reddy said.
In Prakasam district, where Nivar damaged crops in more than one lakh hectares, Energy Minister Balineni Srinivasa Reddy reviewed the situation along with Education Minister A. Suresh.
Power restored
Power supply in the affected areas had been restored on a war-footing, the Energy Minister said, adding that farmers who lost crops would be provided financial assistance by December-end.
District Collector P. Bhaskar said standing crop in 1.06 lakh hectares was damaged – paddy in 15,949 hectares, black gram in 20,712 hectares, red gram in 12,378 hectares, cotton in 16,759 hectares, bengal gram in 14,043 hectares, chilli in 6,077 hectares and vegetables in 620 hectares.
