Two youth proceeding from Kadapa to Bijapur in Karnataka, got washed away at a culvert near Rajapuram in Anantapur district on Thursday but had a miraculous escape as the water flow was shallow after 100 meters.
The youth, identified as Rakesh and Yousuf in their 30's, were following a RTC bus between Gooty and Guntakal around 8.40 a.m.. The bus suddenly stopped even as their vehicle crossed mid-way into the stream. With water gushing out of the stream with force, the car floated and got washed away to about 100 meters. Since the place was shallow the car was not wholly submerged and the duo managed to get out of the vehicle.
Meanwhile, locals rushed to rescue them to safety.
With all the tanks in Guntakal and Gooty mandals getting filled in recent rains, there has been overflow for the past one week. Though there was not much rain on Wednesday in the Gooty (24 mm) and Guntakal (0.9mm) mandals, the Hundri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi water was released into the tanks during summer and majority of the tanks were full. With heavy rains early in the monsoon, all tanks were overflowing.
This stretch of the NH67 has been posing a problem with SRK Constructions yet to complete the culvert portion. Traffic gets disrupted whenever there is rain either in Karnataka or Kurnool.
Fishermen rescued
Even while all this was happening, a 38-year-old local fisherman of Gandhi Nagar, who had laid a net in the water flow, tried to retrieve the catch at 11.30 a.m. and got washed away. He was rescued by the locals.
