(Mumbai/Hyderabad, Aug 6) The states of Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh lay battered Sunday as heavy rains, accompanied by squally winds, submerged roads, marooned villages and disrupted normal life.
While India's financial and entertainment capital Mumbai lay paralysed for most of the day Sunday, Rajamundhry, Vijayawada and Vishakapatnam airports in Andhra Pradesh continued to be submerged under water for the fifth successive day.
In Mumbai, incessant showers reduced the traffic in the city to a crawl. On roads with almost knee-deep water, many vehicles were stranded. Although water began to recede from some areas, both public and private transport continued to be hit. Most subways and arterial roads were waterlogged.
The situation in several other parts of Maharashtra was equally bad. The Nanded-Nagpur-Akola-Hyderabad road was closed for traffic.
Heavy showers also hit Pune, 180 km east of here. The Mula and Muthha rivers flew above the danger mark. A flood alert was issued after 25,000 cusecs of water was released from the Khadakvasla dam.
In Andhra Pradesh, 51 people have died in rain-related incidents and about half a million people rendered homeless since Friday, an official statement in Hyderabad said.
As the Godavari river continued to flow above the danger mark, more than 350,000 people in about 160 villages in Khammam district were hit by flash floods.
While it has not been raining in several affected areas since Saturday evening, the heavy inflows in Godavari and Krishna due to incessant rains in upstream Maharashtra and Karnataka were causing concern.
While the situation was improving in north coastal Andhra, which bore the brunt of floods during the past three days, things have not improved in parts of Telangana and south coastal districts.
Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, who undertook an aerial survey of the flood-hit areas of Vijiyanagaram and Khammam, asked authorities to be ready to meet any eventuality.
He announced a compensation of Rs.50,000 each to the families of those killed in the rains. "According to our estimates, 531 houses have collapsed due to the rains. The state government will get all of them rebuilt," he said.
More than 70,000 people have been shifted to relief camps in Khammam alone.
The flood situation in Adilabad district bordering Maharashtra also remained grim with the water levels rising in Penganga and Pranhita, inundating more than 200 villages. Traffic on national highway 7 connecting Hyderabad to Nagpur has come to a standstill.
Andhra Pradesh Agriculture Minister Raghuveera Reddy said the heavy rains had so far damaged crops over 250,000 acres of land in the state.
The Met department in Mumbai predicted intermittent heavy rains and thundershowers until Monday afternoon.
The metropolis witnessed chock-a-block traffic due to flooded roads and subways. Water logging was reported in many neighbourhoods including Andheri, Milan and Khar subways as well as Chembur, a central suburb.
The roads were submerged around the Sion Circle area, Hind Mata Chowk and Chunabhatti areas in central Mumbai.
Vehicular traffic on busy roads was diverted as municipal employees used brooms to desperately open up clogged waterways and drains.
Train services were disrupted at Sion and Chunabhatti due to water logging, officials said. Water logging was reported at the Airport Colony in Kalina area.
The trains ran 15 minutes behind schedule at other places.
Several flights were diverted from Mumbai as visibility was down to only 300 metres at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminal airport. Some flights were delayed by more than an hour.
Having failed to ensure working drains, the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) urged citizens not to venture out of their homes unless necessary.