The city was battered with heavy downpour on Wednesday under the influence of a well-marked low pressure area close to the coast as part of active Southwest Monsoon.
Visakhapatnam District Education Department has announced a holiday for all schools in the district on July 27 as the India Meteorological Department, which issued Orange and Yellow warnings for Alluri Sitama Raju district and Green for Visakhapatnam district till the morning of July 28.
Schoolchildren wading through waterlogged street at One Town area in Visakhapatnam on Wednesday. | Photo Credit: K.R. DEEPAK
Visakhapatnam District Collector A. Mallikarjuna said, “School holiday has been announced for July 27 to avoid inconvenience to the children.”
A circular was issued on Wednesday evening to the heads of all schools to comply with the order.
The Collector also organised a set conference with the authorities concerned and directed them to provide essentials like drinking water, generators, medicines and food as part of the relief and rehabilitation operations in the areas where waterlogging was reported.
“People need not panic. An NDRF team at Vizag Steel Plant and SDRF teams in the city have been on alert to attend emergency calls round the clock,” the Collector said.
Due to the rain that started at around 3 p.m., not only waterlogging, but also traffic jams were witnessed at many areas in Visakhapatnam. People faced inconvenience to reach their homes from offices and business outlets in the evening.
A RINL-Vizag steel plant employee told The Hindu, “There was no rain when I went to office. But, I reached home after driving for two hours and 15 minutes from my plant to my house in the city. There were traffic jams and traffic diversions. Vehicles on the highway moved at a snail’s pace.”
The sunny weather till afternoon suddenly turned cloudy which led to rain across the city.
Highest rainfall
Seethammadhara recorded the highest rainfall of 111.25 mm in the city till 9 p.m., followed by Vizag Zoo (102.75 mm) and Gnanapuram (90 mm). Many areas received heavy rainfall (above 65 mm).
People were seen wading through the waterlogged roads and streets in Gnanapuram, Kurupam Market, Poorna Market, Kancharapalem and other areas due to overflowing drains and stormwater canals.
“We have deployed a five-member rapid response team, including sanitary inspector, in every ward in the city to check the situation and to take immediate rectification if it is a minor issue,” GVMC Chief Medical Officer Naresh Kumar said.
