The relatives of a pregnant woman carried her on their shoulders to reach a Primary Healthcare Center (PHC) in Andhra Pradesh’s Visakhapatnam district as the heavy rains caused a stream of water to inundate the mud roads. The woman was carried into the labour ward of the Korukonda PHC, near Chintapalli. The woman suffered from labour pain early on Friday and had to be rushed to the hospital. With no hospital close to their tribal settlement, the family started travelling to the closest PHC, which is reportedly around 4 km away. As a rivulet at Mathsya Gadda was overflowing after two days of heavy rain, the family managed to get her admitted to a hospital in the Chintapalli forest area.
This is a common occurrence in the tribal areas in Andhra’s Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts. Several women are forced to trek their way through hills and for several km, before they can avail basic healthcare facilities, due to poor road connectivity and other issues.
The meteorological department had predicted heavy rains accompanied by heavy winds for five districts of Andhra Pradesh, West Godavari, East Godavari, Visakhapatnam, Krishna and Vizianagaram districts on Thursday and Friday. Several parts of Anantapur, Guntur, Vijayawada and Krishna districts saw floods. Low lying areas in residential pockets saw inundation with water gushing into residents’ houses as well.
With heavy rains continuing to lash both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, and normal life being thrown out of gear, the Chief Ministers of both states have instructed officials to take preventive measures. As heavy rains with winds continue to lash both the states, district officials are on high alert to evacuate people in case they get stranded. The Andhra Pradesh and Telangana governments have announced several relief measures. Adilabad, Nirmal, Komaram Bheem Asifabad, and other northern districts in Telangana have received very heavy rainfall and this has caused streams and rivers to overflow.
Water levels at Himayat Sagar and Osman Sagar reservoirs in Hyderabad have increased drastically and officials have lifted their gates to release water into the Musi river. On Thursday, five gates were lifted at Himayat Sagar while two gates were lifted at Osman Sagar, also known as Gandipet lake. The water level in Himayat Sagar reached 1,763 feet against the storage capacity of 1,780 feet, while water level reached 1,786 feet at Gandipet lake, against the storage capacity of 1,792 feet.