Heavy rain batters Visakhapatnam, East Godavari districts

Very heavy rain of up to 18.1 cm lashed Visakhapatnam and East Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh on Monday under the influence of a deep depression in the Bay of Bengal, the Met office here said.

The deep depression is expected to cross the coast close to Kakinada in the early hours of Tuesday with a wind speed gusting to 75 kmph, it said.

Andhra Pradesh State Disaster Management Commissioner K Kanna Babu issued a warning, asking people, particularly those residing in low-lying areas, to be alert and take necessary precautions in view of the situation.Kanna Babu said Collectors of the coastal districts have been put on high alert.

We are closely monitoring the situation and taking required steps to meet any eventuality,the Disaster Management Commissioner said in a release.

The Meteorological Centre at Amaravati said the deep depression was moving at a speed of over six kilometers per hour and was very likely to move west-northwestwards and cross the coast close to Kakinada, the headquarters of East Godavari district.Wind speed could range from 55 to 65 kmph, gusting up to 75 kmph, it said.

The deep depression caused heavy to very heavy rains in East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts in particular on Monday and threw normal life out of gear.Parawada near Visakhapatnam received the highest 18.1 cm of rain and industrial town Gajuwaka 17.1 cm.

Ancient coastal town Bhimili recorded 16 cm, Visakhapatnam city 15.9 cm, Kapuluppada 14.6 cm and Anandapuram 12 cm.Ramachandrapuram in East Godavari recorded 17.8 cm, Pithapuram 16.1 cm, Kakinada 15.5 cm, Karapa 11.7 cm and Samarlakota 10 cm.

According to the Met forecast, heavy to very heavy rainfall with isolated extremely heavy rain was likely over the districts of Srikakulam,Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam in north coastal Andhra, besides East Godavari, Yanam (Puducherry) and West Godavari.Heavy to very heavy rainfall was also very likely at isolated places in Krishna and Kurnool districts, while heavy rainfall was likely at isolated places in Guntur and Prakasam districts, it said.

Meanwhile, a report from Mangaluru said the coastal region of Karnataka was likely to experience heavy rainfall in the next three days due to a fall in atmospheric pressure over the Bay of Bengal.The Met Department said a red alert has been issued for the region during the period. The rainfall might be particularly heavy in the coastal districts of Dakshina Kannada, Udupi and Uttara Kannada in the next two days, the Met department said in a statement.

As the deep depression has been very strong near the Andaman Islands, it may build into a cyclone and most parts of the state would get heavy rainfall from Monday till October 16.

The north and south interior parts of Karnataka are also expected to get rainfall during the period, it said. 

(IMAGE CREDITS:PTI)