RAIN: Boulders Fall on to NH65 From Durga Temple Hill

VIJAYAWADA: Due to heavy rain in the last two days, boulders fell onto the road from the hilltop of Indrakeeladri at Durga Temple's Kesh Khandanshala in Vijayawada on Monday. No one was injured but some parked two-wheelers were damaged.

The traffic on the adjacent Vijayawada-Hyderabad national highway-65 was halted for a few hours. The temple authorities brought special cranes and removed the stones from the road.

In the evening, endowments minister Kottu Satyanarayana reached the spot and took stock of the situation. He said officials were holding discussions with IIT Madras and the state mining department to mitigate the landslide problem in Indrakeeladri Hills.

These boulders along with loose earth fell from Indrakeeladri near Tonsure Hall, opposite to Durga Ghat, around midnight due to incessant rain, the soil got loosened and the boulders rolled down to the road in the foothills. These caused damage to a few two-wheelers parked on the roadside.

The temple authorities and the police rushed to the spot and stopped the traffic on NH-65. Police diverted traffic from the side of Kummaripalem to Radham Centre on one side of NH-65.

Durga Temple chairman Karnati Rambabu and executive officer D. Bhramaramba supervised the boulder removal process and restoration of the traffic. The traffic resumed on the road by the evening.