Heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh: Death toll rises to 20, more than 30 missing

Heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh: Death toll rises to 20, more than 30 missing and 20,000 shifted to relief camps.

More than 20,000 people have been evacuated to relief camps due to heavy rains in Andhra Pradesh's southern districts of Chittoor, Kadapa, Nellore and Anantapur.

More than a hundred villages in Kadapa are currently flooded. The death toll has risen to 20 and more than 30 are still missing, government officials say.

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Saturday morning made an aerial visit to the flood-hit areas of the state.

Many rivers, canals and water bodies in Chittoor and Nellore districts have been inundated due to heavy rains since Thursday. Swarnamuki and Kalingi rivers have been flooded. The low-lying areas have become flooded and it is feared that many may be swept away by the water. 32,000 hectares of agricultural and horticultural lands were damaged. Moderate to heavy rain is forecast for southern coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema on Saturday.

Seven teams of the National Disaster Rescue Force (NDRF), four of them in Kadapa and nine teams of the State Disaster Rescue Force (SDRF) are involved in rescue and relief operations. Two helicopters are on standby each in Kadapa and Anantapur districts

Five people, including three children and an elderly woman, were killed when an old three-storey building collapsed in heavy rains overnight in Kathiri town in Anantapur district.

35 passengers trapped in three RTC buses stranded in Seyeru village were rescued. In a dramatic operation, 10 more people were rescued by plane after they were stranded in a canal at C K Palli Veldurthy . Seven people, including a district police inspector, were rescued in Hematripuram.

A pregnant woman has been rescued from her home in Kadapa after water leaked from the Pukkavanga irrigation project. Firefighters rescued 3 men and 15 buffaloes from the Babagni River at Gandhi in Kadapa district.

The government has set up 230 relief camps and is providing food, water packets and rice to the affected people. The government also provides financial assistance of Rs. 1,000 per person transferred to relief camps or Rs. 2,000 per family.

The Chennai Central-Tirupati train and Guntakal-Tirupati train will be canceled on Saturday due to heavy rains.