Cyclone Nivar: Alia Bhatt salutes the relief teams; urges people to stay indoors

Normal life was thrown out of gear as heavy to extremely heavy rainfall ranging from 6 cm to 30 cm battered at least half of Andhra Pradesh under the influence of cyclone Nivar, leaving one dead. Another farmer was feared washed away while NDRF personnel rescued two others from a reservoir in Chittoor district. Praying for the people and saluting the relief teams, Bollywood actor Alia Bhatt asked people to 'stay in and stay strong'.

"My heart goes out to those affected by Cyclone Nivar. The cyclone has caused a lot of damage, and I salute the relief teams working tirelessly to restore normalcy. Everyone, stay in and stay strong," Bhatt wrote on Instagram.

According to the State Disaster Management Authority, SPS Nellore, Chittoor, Kadapa, Krishna, Prakasam and East Godavari districts received heavy to extremely heavy rainfall at more than 177 places. Other districts like Anantapuramu, Kurnool, Guntur and West Godavari were also receiving moderate to heavy rainfall under Nivars impact.

 In SPS Nellore district, which was the worst hit with rainfall as high as 30 cm, at least 3,363 people were shifted to 115 relief camps from vulnerable areas, district Collector Chakradhar Babu said. The Swarnamukhi river in SPS Nellore district was in spate while the Somasila reservoir received an inflow of 65,000 cusecs. 

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The Chief Minister asked SPS Nellore district Collector to render all assistance to the family of the person who died of electrocution on Wednesday. In Chittoor district, three farmers went to their fields to fetch electric motors but were suddenly caught in a swirling flood from the Mallemadugu reservoir on Thursday. While NDRF and State Emergency Response and Fire Services personnel rescued two farmers, another was washed away and efforts were on to trace him.

"We tried to deploy a helicopter for the rescue operation but inclement weather did not permit it. Still, our teams are continuing the search operation for the missing farmer," Chittoor district Collector Narayana Bharat Gupta said.

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(With PTI inputs)