Heavy rains lashed many parts of Chittoor district on Thursday, bringing life to a standstill in 43 mandals, while all 66 mandals received rain. Thursday morning recorded 2,167.8 mm of rain, the highest in November. Overall, the district has received 8,376 mm of rain since November 1, which is six times the average rainfall in November.
The impact of the depression in Bay of Bengal was felt mostly in Varadaiyapalem, BN Kandriga, Satyavedu and KVB Puram divisions where water-logging was observed in many areas. Sarpanches of some SC/ST colonies had to deploy earthmovers to divert the stagnant water to fields and open areas.
Heavy rains have been reported in Irala, Tavanampalle, Puthalapattu and Pakala divisions of West Chittoor. The entire eastern region received rain since morning and it continued till late evening. Heavy rain has been reported in Madanapalle division since afternoon.
The busy Tada-Srikalahasti road was badly damaged, forcing vehicular traffic to be diverted. Rural roads turned into a cesspool in Nagalapuram, Nindra and Vijayapuram mandals. In Yeravaripalem mandal of Pilar division, more than 100 village tanks were filled. Frequent power outages have been reported in many parts of Satyavedu and Nagri assembly constituencies.
gates lifted
Irrigation officials lifted the gates of Arniyar and Kalangi reservoirs at Pichoor and KVB Puram on Thursday morning and released a huge amount of water downstream, and people along the route were warned about the development from Wednesday evening. Officials said minor cracks have occurred in about 15 big tanks in the district. About 500 families from the waterlogged areas of eastern divisions were shifted to rehabilitation centres. Two teams of NDRF were deployed to deal with the situation.
Meanwhile, the district administration had declared a holiday in schools and colleges.
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