Heavy rain for three days leaves four dead, 4,000 affected in five districts of Andhra Pradesh

Heavy rain in Andhra Pradesh leaves 4 dead, 4,000 affected, and causes damage to crops and infrastructure.

The heavy rain in the coastal Andhra Pradesh in the past three days left four persons dead(two each from ASR and East Godavari districts) and affected 259 villages in 33 mandals of the five districts of East Godavari, Eluru, Konaseema, NTR and Alluri Sitharama Raju, as per the flood situation report prepared by the Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Authority(APSDMA) on July 22 (Monday).

Nearly 4,000 people have been affected, 3,500 of them in Eluru district alone, and the rest in East Godavari, while the number of incidents of damage to houses has been put at 132 in these districts.

It may be noted that a low-pressure that intensified into a depression on July 19 (Friday), triggered heavy rain across the coastal districts in the State on July 19, 20 and 21.

Eluru district recorded nearly 147 mm rainfall on July 19 and 20, while West Godavari recorded nearly 120 mm during the same period, East Godavari 136 mm, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Konaseema 105 mm, Alluri Sitharama Raju 132 mm, Visakhapatnam 126 mm, Srikakulam 90 mm and NTR 71 mm, among others.

Crops in at least 18,715 hectares in East Godavari, Eluru and Srikakulam districts are reported to have been hit, while a road length of 658.88 km in the four districts of Eluru, East Godavari, Alluri Sitharama Raju and NTR is damaged.

The State government, through GO Rt.No. 31, has released ₹21.50 crore to meet the immediate expenses towards rescue and relief operations. An official from the APSDMA said this is preliminary information, which may be revised after taking into account losses incurred by the districts on July 22.