GUNTUR: Ropes were used to rescue people from waist-deep water in Andhra Pradesh's Guntur after heavy overnight rain led to a flash flood on Thursday.
Efforts were on to save a bus full of passengers stranded in flood waters. Thousands of people are stranded after record rain in parts of Guntur, around 300 km from Hyderabad.
Four people were washed away at a village; two of them were spotted on palm trees and rescue teams were trying to reach them.
Normal life in Sattenapalle and other parts of Guntur district was thrown out of gear due to the heavy rains. At several places, streams and tanks are overflowing inundating low lying areas.
A heavy truck got washed away in Nagaleru Vagu in Dachepalle. It was travelling on the low bridge over the stream when it happened.
With railway tracks getting washed away at five places due to heavy rain on Nadikudi-Guntur and Sattenapalle-Bellamkonda, Sattenapalle-Reddigudem, Macherla passenger was detained at Piduguralla, Falaknuma Express was detained at Bellamkonda Express, Amaravati intercity Express was detained at Nadikudi.
Several trains scheduled on those routes including Tirupati bound Krishna Express were short terminated and some were cancelled.
Railway department has made alternate arrangements with help of APSRTC to transport the stranded passengers at different places to the safer locations.
The roads in Narasaraopet, Sattenapalle, Piduguralla, Bellamkonda and Guntur rural area are in four feet deep water resembling streams in spate.
The entire road network in Palnadu region Guntur district has gone haywire and people got stranded at different places. Rainwater has entered the houses in BC Colony, Berampeta, Chandrababu Naidu Colony Lakshminagar of Narasaraopeta.
When the rainwater entered a bus that got stranded on Narasaraopet-Sattenapalli Road near BC Colony police and locals rushed to help the passengers of the bus to come out of the bus. Around 70 people were travelling in that bus at that time.
Heavy rains toppled a kiosk on the roadside in Balajinagar of Guntur city and it fell in the drainage flowing beside it.
Kondaveeti Vagu at Prathipadu, Bugga Vagu at Piduguralla are in spate and flowing at danger level. Farmers breached Kondapi Tank in Muppada, when it started overflowing and the water entering their houses. Pillaeru vagu in Gurajala is also in spate. Several low lying areas across the district are inanudated.
According to officials, Sattenapalle received 18 cm of rain, Chilakaluripeta received 7.78 cm of rain.
