At least 46 people were killed as heavy rains wreaked havoc in the western and southern parts of India causing flash floods, with most casualties being from the worst-hit states of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh. Several deaths have been reported from Maharashtra’s Solapur district. Rains also lashed the cities of Pune and Mumbai. The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has predicted heavy to very heavy rains across the states.
Meanwhile, a red alert has been sounded in Karnataka where ten districts continue to be pounded by heavy rainfall, as a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal crossed the coast in Kakinada.
Here are the latest updates from all the affected states:
Telangana
Torrential rains lashing various parts of Telangana since Tuesday have claimed 30 lives, including 19 in Greater Hyderabad. The rains, under the impact of a deep depression that crossed the Andhra coast on Tuesday, triggered flash floods in the state capital and several districts. The extremely heavy rainfall caused a deluge in Hyderabad and its suburbs. At least 19 people died in rain-related incidents while four others were still missing.
The incessant rains resulted in overflowing of lakes, tanks, rivulets and streams, inundation of low-lying areas and disruption of road transport. The Army and the National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) joined the rescue and relief work in the worst-affected areas. Boats were deployed to evacuate people stranded in inundated areas while two helicopters were kept standby for the rescue operations.
Andhra Pradesh
10 people were killed in rain-related incidents across Andhra Pradesh in the last 48 hours. Heavy rains caused damage to roads and disrupted power supply at several places in Andhra Pradesh. For the second time in less than 20 days, river Krishna remained swollen as it received a heavy flood due to rainfall over the last couple of days.
A breach occurred to the Sarada river bund near Yalamanchili in Visakhapatnam district, inundating over 2,000 acres of agricultural fields in the vicinity. The flood impact was felt in Chodavaram, Payakaraopeta, Yalamanchili and Anakapalli mandals in the district. The famous nurseries at Kadiyam near Rajamahendravaram were flooded due to downpour in East Godavari district. The Vamsadhara river in Srikakulam district received heavy flood under the impact of heavy rain in the catchment area in neighbouring Odisha.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao and Andhra Pradesh CM YS Jagan Mohan Reddy after the two southern states were hit by heavy rains and assured them of all possible support and assistance from the Centre in the rescue-and-relief work.
Karnataka
“Red alert has been sounded in 10 districts across the coastal, and northern regions of the state, as heavy rains are predicted to lash the area over the next 2-3 days due to low pressure and strong winds,” a Karnataka Meteorological Department official said. All major dams in the Cauvery and the Krishna basins are brimming and their floodgates were opened. Officials said Kalaburagi, Yadgir and Bidar were severely affected as small streams were in spate with many lakes overflowing and inundating villages.
In Chincholi taluk of Kalaburagi district, the stop-gates of Nagarala and Chandrampalli lakes were opened, flooding nearby villages. Normal life was paralysed as a major lake overflowed in Aland taluk of Kalaburagi district. In Yargol village of Yadgir district, water gushed out of weir of the lake, resulting in damage to crops and water-logging.
Maharashtra
Six people, including four members of a family, were killed in a wall collapse triggered by heavy rains in Pandharpur town of Maharashtra’s Solapur district. An IMD weather bulletin said heavy to very heavy rainfall with extremely heavy falls at isolated places was very likely over Konkan and Goa and heavy to very heavy falls at isolated places over Coastal Karnataka and Madhya Maharashtra on October 15.
Fishermen are advised not to venture into the sea over Gulf of Mannar, Comorin area and Southwest Bay of Bengal, along and off Karnataka-Kerala coats and north Andaman Sea during 14th-15th October, east-central and adjoining north-east Arabian Sea and along and off Maharashtra-south Gujarat coast during 14th-18th October, the department said.
