The city and surrounding areas received widespread and intermittent rain accompanied by gusty winds since early hours of Thursday. The sky remained overcast throughout the day and heavy downpour in the afternoon was followed by sharp showers in the evening too.
The heavy rains resulted in landslides and wall collapses in some parts of the city. At Chrsiturajupuram, a 69-year-old lady O. Vijayamma suffered head injuries when a wall of the building where she was residing collapsed. She was admitted to the Government General Hospital for treatment. In another incident in the same area, two children suffered minor injuries due to a landslide. A 10-year-old child also suffered minor injury due to tree collapse in the One Town area. A retaining wall collapsed near Sitara junction. The landslides were reported at Upparavagu in One Town. Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has opened a control room with toll free number 0866 2427485. In charge Municipal Commissioner and UDA vice-chairman M. Rama Rao has asked the people to call the toll free number in case of emergency. The people were suggested to be vigilant of landslides in hilly areas and inundation in low-lying areas, he said.
The Commissioner asked the people drink boil and cooled water in view of the rains. Flood waters reached Prakasam Barrage where from the water drawn to supply for the public. The engineering officials were asked to take necessary steps and conduct chlorination tests properly.
Despite unremitting showers, it was life as usual for the people who went about their daily chores. The office-goers had a tough time as they had to wade through ankle deep water.
The rain led to water-logging in many localities causing hardship to the people. Many roads turned into water pools. Main roads, including Eluru Road, Pinnamaneni Polyclinic Road, Tickkle Road and Mogalrapuram junction were flooded causing severe inconvenience to two and four wheeler drivers.
The rain caused plenty of flooding in many parts of the city including One Town, Payakapuram, Ajitsingh Nagar, Pipula Road and Moghalrajpuram. Traffic huffed and puffed at several places like Siddhartha Circle, Pinnamaneni Policlinic Road, Satynarayanapuram and Gandhinagar. Citizens, more particularly office-goers, had to wade through rain water at some places in the city.
