Five Dead In Chittoor As Heavy Rains Lash South AP

Five people died and two others went missing in the heavy rains that lashed several parts of Andhra Pradesh, especially the Chittoor district, during the last two days.

All five deaths happened in the Chittoor district, which bore the brunt of the heavy rains. Crops in thousands of hectares have also been damaged in the rains.

Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu, who held a tele-conference with the Collectors of the affected districts Kadapa, Nellore and Chittoor, asked them to pay Rs 5 lakhs in ex-gratia to the family of each deceased person.

The CM also directed the officials to distribute free rice and kerosene among the affected families.

"Distribute 20 kg rice and 2 litres kerosene to the victims within a day, on the lines of the relief provided during the Hudhud cyclone," he said.

Measures should also be taken to repair the breaches in the lakes and rivulets, he said, and directed the officials to take restoration and rehabilitation works on a war-footing.

The Chief Minister further asked the officials to remain alert for the next 24 hours.

He informed the officials that two NDRF helicopters from Chennai had landed in the Chittoor and Nellore districts to rescue the people stranded in the flood waters.

During the tele-conference, the Chief Minister also interacted with the six ministers who were monitoring the relief and restoration works in the flood-hit districts. The ministers were Narayana and Siddha Raghava Rao for Nellore; Nimmakayala Chinna Rajappa, Bojjala Gopalakrishna Reddy and Prattipati Pullarao for Chittoor; and Ganta Srinivasa Rao for Kadapa.

The ministers and officials of the departments concerned were present.