Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) president and Chandragiri MLA Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy said on Saturday that the Rayalacheruvu tank in Ramachandrapuram mandal is safe, and appealed to the people of the villages below to return to their homes.
Hundreds of families were evacuated by the district administration and shifted to rehabilitation centers after a leak was found in the dam of the pond following heavy rains last week.
The MLA camping in the tank area inspected the works to stop the leak. Thousands of cement bags were dumped at the site to complete the task. An Air Force helicopter has also been deployed to provide food to the people stranded in the flood-hit villages. He thanked Tirumala Tirupati Devthanam (TTD) and Bharathi Cements for supplying the cement bags.
On Saturday, Shri Bhaskar Reddy offered special prayers in the pond. “In future, a foolproof scheme will be in place to permanently stop the leak in the tank. We are continuously monitoring the flood, and have already pumped out 4,000 cusecs of flood water and brought down the water level by 4 feet,” said Mr. Bhaskar Reddy.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, the body of a Tirupati resident was found in Cotton Mill area on Renigunta Road. The deceased had gone missing after heavy floods in Tirupati on November 18. After a week-long search operation, the NDRF teams finally traced the body.
,