Low lying areas of Nellore still under water
Minister Narayana attributes flooding due to encroachments on irrigation canals
Nellore: Several colonies and even some main roads in Nellore continued to be under a sheet of water as water failed to recede even after a lull in the downpour since Wednesday night. Some houses in low-lying areas were submerged in the flood waters.
Heavy outflows from Nellore tank, which is full to its brim, is said to be one of the reasons for flooding of several areas in the city. While the water logged under bridges at Atmakur bus stand, Vijayamahal gate and Magunta Layout are cleared, the under bridge at Ramalingapuram is with full of water till the last reports came in.
The roads leading to ZP office and Madras bus stand and fish market turned canals. People living in areas such as Mansoor Nagar are without food for the last 24 hours as water entered their houses and they were seen pleading for water and food in several areas.
There were complaints against the quality of food packets supplied by the authorities. The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) teams started shifting pe-ople stuck in the maro-oned houses to relief camps on four boats on Thursday afternoon.
An indicator for the flood situation is that Urban Development Minister Dr P. Narayana and mayor Md Abdul Azeez went in a boat to the area to assess the situation. Meanwhile, Dr Naraya-na has attributed the crisis to encroachments on the irrigation canals allowed by Congress government that are passing through Nellore.
He said that the irrigation canals used to carry storm water without any hindrance to the city in the past, but the width of the canals shrunk anywhere between 2 to 5 feet from 20 to 30 feet in the past because of construction of houses on them illegally.
Stressing the need for some harsh measures to clear the encroachments on war footing, he advised the opposition parties not to politicise the issue in the interest of the denizens of the city.
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