Andhranews

Anantapur, Aug. 6: Violent incidents marred the final phase of polling for gram panchayat elections in Anantapur district on Sunday. Two persons were killed and several others injured in poll-related incidents in the district. Telugu Desam supporter Rambhupal Reddy was killed when rivals attacked him with sticks and stones in Devuluppalapadu village in Peddapallurur mandal.

Trouble began when rival groups attacked each other with stones and sticks. Rambhupal Reddy who was seriously injured was rushed to the Kurnool general hospital where he died. Four others were injured in the incident.

Polling was boycotted in Kunchivaripalle panchayat in Yellanur mandal in protest against factionism and in Govindapalle panchayat in Bukkarayasamudram candidates boycotted the elections in protest against the last minute change in symbols. Tension prevailed in Kuderu village after clothes of four women were torn by some miscreants.

The incident sparked violence with TD and Congress supporter pelting stones against each other. Nearly 30 persons were injured in the incident. The local circle inspector was also attacked when he tried to intervene and bring the situation under control. Ballot boxes were burnt after counting at Neelampalle village in B.K. Samudram mandal.

Meanwhile, a woman was killed and four others seriously injured when an RTC bus crashed into the victory rally organised by Congress supporters at Raketla village in Uravakonda mandal. The candidate who won the elections had a miraculous escape. Stone pelting was also reported in Similavagupalle, Dapthula, Pasalavur, Narsapuram panchayats in Peddapappur mandal and Peddamallepalle panchayat in Yellanur mandal.

Madanapalle, Aug. 6: Except some minor incidents, the final phase of panchayat elections in Madanapalle division of Chitoor district was peaceful. The division recorded an average polling per centage of 81.37 percent. Police resorted to lathicharge at Basikonda, Kottapalli and Chinnatippa Samudram panchayats in Madanapalle mandal to quell clashing groups.

Polling came to a halt for over one hour at Kotakonda village in Tamballapalle mandal, where 80 per cent polling was recorded by 11.30 am when Telugu Desam and Congress supporters came to blows, over allegations of rigging by Congressmen. Tamballapalli SI Pullaiah rushed to the village and pacified the groups.

However, TD leaders lodged a complaint with the Madanapalle Sub-Collector A. Babu. He directed officials to go ahead with counting since 75 per cent polling was recorded in the village. Candidates were in a fix at ward No 4 in Kandukuru, following an interchange in the symbols allotted to them.

They discreetly launched a door-to-door campaign to enlighten voters about the imbroglio related to symbols. Absence of the symbol allotted to a contestant in the ballot paper in ward No 7 at Kandukuru gave anxious movements to the candidate.

The problem was resolved when election officials rushed ballot papers containing all symbols from the mandal headquarters. Tension prevailed at Katnagallu panchayat in Madanapalle mandal, following heated exchanges between TD and Congress followers over rigging, SI Srikanth intervened and brought the situation under control.
Two persons sustained injuries when their two wheelers collided while they were coming for voting at Katnagallu.

Many voters were seen returning without voting, unable to produce proper identity proof. High handed behaviour of the SI Mr Ravindra led to tension at the mandal headquarters town of Ramakuppam. Locals came down heavily on the SI for beating Mr Venugopala, a 35 year old voter who was in the queue, without any valid reason. The SI allegedly slapped Mr Venugopala’s mother Ms Betamma, 60, when she asked him why he had thrashed her son.

Kurnool/Kadapa, Aug. 6: Except for stray incidents, polling for the third and final phase of gram panchayat elections was peaceful in Kurnool district on Sunday. Two persons were injured when Koilakuntla MLA’s son Challa Bhagiratha Reddy opened fire in air with police revolver.

Telugu Desam supporters poured water in ballot boxes in protest against the sending out their agents from poling booths in Palukur village in Banaganapalle mandal. Repolling was ordered at the booth No. 10 in Mettapalle village in Avuku mandal when the rival Telugu Desam and Congress supporters clashed. Repolling was ordered at both the places.

Telugu Desam supporters pelted stones on Congress supporters and damaged the vehicle belonging Challa Rajasekhar Reddy, brother of Koilakuntla legislator Challa Ramakrishna Reddy at Singanapalle village in Avuku in protest against the sending out of their agents from polling booths.

Infuriated over this, the MLA’s son Challa Bhagiratha Reddy took the revolver from the police and fired eight rounds in the air. However, two of the bullets hit the shoulders of Boya Pramilamma and Ramapullaiah. They were rushed to the Kurnool general hospital where their condition was stated to be stable.

Both of them were discharged after first-aid. However, police said that it was Challa’s gunman who fired in air. Two TD supporters were injured in a clash with Congress supporters at the Shirvella mandal headquarters. In Kadapa district, polling was peaceful for the final phase of panchayat elections in Jammalamadugu division on Sunday.

Ongole, Aug. 6: After its disastrous defeat in the Parliamentary, Assembly, municipal and ZP polls, the Telugu Desam has improved its performance in the village panchayat polls held on July 29, August 2 and 6.

In the final phase of polls held on Sunday in Markapuram division, TD supporters won about 50 per cent of the village sarpanch and ward member posts. Party supporters won most seats in Racharla, Y Palem, and Tripuranthakam mandals as per the information received till 9 p.m.

Meanwhile, TD and Congress supporters won equal number of seats in Bestavaripeta and Komarolu mandals. In Bestavaripeta, supporters of both sides won seven seats each, while in Komarolu mandal the two sides won six sarpanch posts each.

In Pullalacheruvu mandal, Congress supporters won 10 seats while TD supporters won in four seats. In Ardhaveedu mandal, Congress supporters won 10 seats and TD supporters secured victory in only four villages.

In Peddaraveedu mandal, the Congress won seats in nine villages while supporters of the TD won in six villages. In Yerragondapalem mandal, TD supporters won nine seats while Congress supporters registered victory in seven villages. In Tripuranthakam mandal, TD supporters won the polls in eight villages and Congress recorded wins in six villages.

In the remote Pullalacheruvu mandal, TD supporters won four while Congress supporters defeated their rivals in 10 villages. In the first phase of polling held in Ongole and Kandukur division, TD supporters won over 220 sarpanch posts.

Congress supporters won over 300 sarpanch posts in these two divisions. Increase of diesel and petrol prices and skyrocketing of prices of essential commodities are said to be among the reasons for the slackening of support for Congress.

Nellore, Aug. 6: Residents of Kasimkhankandriga of Akkapet panchayat in Tada mandal boycotted elections in protest against threats by contestants. TD and Congress groups came to blows at Chillakuru but the incident did not affect the polling process.

Barring a few incidents, the third and final phase of panchayat elections went off peacefully in Gudur division of Nellore district. An average of 87.25 per cent polling was recorded in the division. Fresh polling was taken up at ward No 16 in Nayudupet panchayat after a voter poured ink into the ballot box at around 9.00 am. Being a ward with a large number of voters, tokens had been issued to those in the queue at 1 pm which is the deadline to enable them to vote.

A volatile situation was witnessed at Nellipudi, Eragatipalli, Kallur, Muttembaka, Budidalavagu, Balireddypalem, Tupilipalem, Jaminkottapalem and Valamedu polling stations in Vakadu Mandal. There were heated arguments between groups belonging to the TD and Congress over a voter identity card at Burlavaripalem polling station in Eragativaripalli panchayat.

Wielding lethal weapons, groups were ready for a showdown when police arrived at the scene and used mild force to chase them. TD leaders raised a hue and cry over the highhanded behaviour of an SI at Talapadu village in Venkatagiri constituency. They alleged that the SI had manhandled the TD agent.

However, officials said that the TD agent had thrashed a voter over the issue of his identity. TD and Congress followers resorted to stone throwing near the polling station at Muttembaka after a person attacked a TD supporter.

Jaminpalem sarpanch P. Purushottam Reddy protested against the removal of a TD agent from the polling station at Tupilipalem. Police pacified the leader, pointing to a direction by the DSP.

Police wielded lathis to disperse TD and Congress supporters when they gathered in large numbers in front of a polling station at Kallur. Polling agents of the TD and the Congress came to blows inside the polling station at Kallur. TD worker K. Ankaiah sustained injuries in a clash between ruling partymen at Kesavaram in Kota mandal.

However, polling was peaceful in most panchayats in Kota mandal. Congress leader Kodavalur Dhanunjaya Reddy claimed that their followers had captured eight panchayats in Kota mandal. TD leaders came down heavily on police for their inability to post sufficient force at villages identified as hypersensitive.

Rajahmundry, Aug. 6: Chief Minister Y.S. Raja-sekhar Reddy said that a special study would be conducted for flood relief on a permanent basis for both East and West Godavari districts. Speaking to mediapersons on Sunday at the R and B guest house, he appreciated the Godavari delta system, and said that it stands as a role model for the entire irrigation system in the State.

He emphasised the need for a permanent solution instead of taking temporary measures. He felt that the only solution for this problem was to modernise the entire Godavari delta system. He also felt that effective drainage system would also solve the problem of submergence.

He said that former chief minister Marri Chenna Reddy had taken up repairs to the drainage system with Rs 1,300 crores. Mr Reddy added that after that, the maintenance of the drains was not done properly. As a result, the delta system was not functioning effectively. He felt the need to take up modernisation and repairs to the drainage system simultaneously.

The CM said that for this purpose, Rs 3,000 crores was required. He said that officials were asked to send proposals after a careful study of the existing situation.
He also felt the need for concrete lining of canals in the Godavari delta system.
Mr Rajasekhar Reddy said orders were issued to take up relief operations on a war-footing without waiting for funds.

He announced Rs 95 lakhs for the flood-affected areas. He added that this amount would be utilised for restoration of normalcy and for strengthening of the Godavari bunds. Earlier, the Chief Minister reviewed the flood position with officials and MLAs. He promised permanent housing for the flood-affected at a cost of Rs 10.98 crores.

Kakinada, Aug. 6: The port city of Kakinada is going to get one more research centre in the field of aquaculture to be established at a cost of Rs 6 crores. The centre, said to be first of its kind in the country, the National Centre For Sustainable Aquaculture is being set up here with Central government funding. It will have the latest laboratory facilities and technical knowhow in the field of aquaculture.

East Godavari already has two centres of this kind for aquaculture at Kakinada, one under the State government and the other managed by the Icar. The former is the State Institute of Fisheries Technology and the latter, the Central Institute of Fisheries Education, a deemed university. Both serve the needs of aqua farmers of the entire coastal AP.

According to sources, the Central government is funding this project and preliminary works are expected to start by September. The centre will be established on the premises of the Acharya Ranga Agriculture University in the new port area in Kakinada.

The centre will be equipped with all the latest inventions and investigations in aquaculture and necessary infrastructure for advanced research. According to the fisheries department sources, aquaculture in the district has come down from the existing 14.50,000 hectares to 8,000 hectares in the last couple of years due to the effect of a virus.

The new centre which is going to be established is expected to solve the problems of the virus with the latest technology and research facilities.

Warangal, Aug. 6: The State government on Sunday set up a three-member expert committee to inquire into the washing away of Rs 11.5 crores Gundlavagu project in the district. Ironically, the project which was aimed at preventing floods and utilising the flood waters of the Gundlavagu rivulet had itself got washed away in the floods in the recent spell of rains.

Announcing the setting up of the committee, major irrigation minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said that the three-member experts panel would find out the causes of damage to the newly-constructed project.

The committee would look into various aspects like design aspects, construction aspects and quality aspects in the construction of the project that got washed away completely in less than six months it was inaugurated.

The minister said that the committee would comprise; chief engineer Muralidhar, Routhu Satyanarayana (designs), and chief engineer Raju. He said that the committee would also suggest remedial measures for the reconstruction of the project. “The committee will submit its detailed inquiry report within a week and based on the report action will be initiated against the guilty,” Mr Lakshmaiah added.

The authorities indicated that if found guilty of ignoring the quality norms or other safety aspects, project contractor Satya Murthy would be blacklisted in the department. A demand to this effect also came from Telugu Desam Mulug division in-charge Swarnakka, who demanded strict action against the contractor and blamed the local legislator and other Congress public representatives for taking huge bribes in the project resulting in the poor quality of works.

Earlier, the contractor has assured to bear all the loss of the project damage cost and said that he would ensure that the public money would not go waste. On Sunday, social welfare minister D.S. Redya Naik inspected the Gundlavagu project and interacted with the affected people.

As a result of the breach to the newly-constructed project, scores of people residing in a couple of tribal thandas under the project. With the project getting completely washed away, the gushing waters inundated many tribal thandas and more than 20 houses were damaged.

The residents too fled for their life on the midnight of last Thursday when the project developed a breach. The sand casting in hundreds of acre due to the flooding of waters from the project also resulted in huge losses to the poor farmers in the area. They now demand immediate compensation.

Karimnagar, Aug. 6: Though the rain devastated areas in the district are gradually limping back to normalcy following the respite from the rain, several remote villages, especially in the Manthani division, continued to reel under the devastation of floodwaters due to heavy inflows into Godavari from the SRSP.

Many villages in the far-flung areas in Mahadevpur, Adavimuttaram and Kataram mandals remained cut-off as the road and telephone communication network besides power supply totally destabilised for the consecutive third day on Sunday.

The vehicular movement was disrupted between Karimnagar and Adilabad districts as the Rayapatnam Bridge near Dharmapuri remained submerged in the floodwaters for the second day following release of about three lakh cusecs of water from the SRSP on Sunday morning.

The rain devastation left a trail of destruction on the district causing severe damage to life and property in the last four days. About 10 persons, including three girls, perished in rain related mishaps at various places across the district since Friday.

About 1,000 houses were totally damaged and 4,000 houses suffered partial damage in the rain havoc. Crops spread in about 17,000 acres were destroyed resulting in extensive loss to the farmers. A total of 35 ponds and water sources breached due to rain devastation.

Adilabad, Aug. 6: The road link to Maharashtra from the State through NH No. 7 is cut off as the Penganga river is flowing six feet over the bridge since Saturday night. After 1964, this is the first time that flood flow is at such a height over the bridge.

Traffic came to halt on the national highway for kilometres together on both sides of the road. It is feared that the bridge may also be damaged as the flood flow is high due to heavy rains in the district and upstream in Maharashtra. There is every possibility that villages on the banks of the Penganga and Pranahitha may be washed away, due to increase in the flood flow as the crest gates of few projects upstream in Maharashtra were lifted on Sunday afternoon.

Hundreds of interior villages in Bela, Jainad, Sirpur(T), Kautala, Bejjur, Dahegoan, Kotapalli and Vemanpalli mandals are surrounded by floodwaters, which have entered houses. Villagers are taking shelter in uphill areas and are waiting for official help.

Villagers on the banks of the Penganga at Gubidi, Arli, Anthergoan Vadaval in Thamsi are the worst-hit and surrounded by flood waters, as also villagers of Kamaragoan madira and Bedoda in Bela Mandal. They sought help from the district administration to evacuate them by airlifting.

Warangal, Aug. 6: The 60-hour ordeal of Peeraiah, who got stranded at a pump house submerged in the overflowing Munneruvagu, came to an end on Sunday morning. After the rivulet receded, the Mahbubabad gram pa-nchayat personnel went near the pump house and threw a rope.

The pump house operator and a swimmer, Anjaiah, who also got stranded after he went to rescue Peeraiah, swam to safety with the help of the rope. Officials heaved a sigh of relief after he came out of the water at around 4 am.

Vijayawada, Aug. 6: The floods to river Krishna remained stable on Sunday with Prakasam Barrage receiving 2.45 lakh cusecs of surplus water which is being released into the sea.

As the administration had shifted the families from the low-lying areas all along the river from Vijayawada to Avanigadda, there is not much of property loss in the district. The delayed monsoon too is found to be a blessing in disguise as the floods would have maro-oned the fields damaging the crops, mostly the seed-beds in the Krishna delta.

The empty paddy fields are covered by flood water in the delta villages while several villages wore acdeserted look with the administration evacuating the residents to the relief camps. The administration enga-ged mechanised boats to shift the residents from the island habitations to the relief camps.

It is also geared up to face the situation as the river is expected to receive more than four lakh cusecs of water at Prakasam Barrage by Monday evening. The officials at Nagarjunasagar reservoir discharged over 4.4 lakh cusecs of water wh-ich is expected to reach Pra-kasam Barrage by Monday noon.

Khammam, Aug. 6: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy on Sunday said the State government has been taking all steps to rescue the Godavari flood victims in Bhadrachalam division and that pucca houses would be built for them under Indiramma programme.

Mr Reddy told presspersons that three Air Force helicopters are making sorties for dropping food, water and milk for the 43 marooned villages. He said that 75,000 people from 167 villages were shifted to 177 relief camps so far. He assured that a bund would be built to protect Burgu-mpahad constituency.

The Chief Minister said that 14 mandals were affected due to the floods and Kunavaram, Chintoor, Kuk-kunoor, VR Puram and Vel-ierpad were the worst-affected. When asked if floods wo-uld damage more areas if Polavaram Project was built, the Chief Minister all-ayed such fears.

He said the Central Water Commission had finalised the Polavaram Project in 1980 and there was no scope for such a situation to arise. He said so-me newspapers were creating such fears unnecessarily. He said the government has been constructing the projects keeping interests of the people in mind.

He said that AICC president Sonia Gandhi enquired about the Godavari floods and asked the government to take necessary steps to save the people. Regarding Central help, he said that the government would first estimate the crop and property loss and then take a decision. When asked about seeking Army help, he said, “I think it is not necessary.”

Earlier, the Chief Minister reviewed the flood situation with the officials and people;s representatives. When Burgumpahad MLA P. Venkateswalru listed out the failures of the officials in extending help to the victims, Mr Reddy asked him to express only concern not anger under the circumstances. He asked the officials to take the suggestions of legislators in helping the flood victims.

The Chief Minister resp-onded to the suggestion of Khammam MLA T. Veerabhadram and assured to build pucca houses for all the victims under Indiramma. He advised the officials to choose the place to build Indiramma houses where there would be no flood affect.

He said that the government would supply seeds to all the farmers in Burgumpahad and Bhadrachalam constituencies at 50 per cent subsidy to raise crops.

Vijayawada, Aug.6: The third and final phase of Panchayat election in Krishna district on Sunday went on peacefully. The villagers in the Gudivada, Mandavalli, Mudinepalli, Kaikalur mandals queued up at their respective polling booths to cast their votes since first hour of the polling and the entire procedure completed within three hours. Almost all the polling booths wore a deserted look by 11 am but people gathered outside the booths eagerly discussing about the outcome.

The district police, keeping in view of the violence during the earlier phases, were a bit more cautious and the polling booths were carefully manned by the armed sleuths. Besides tempting liquor bottles and saris, it was non-vegetarian dishes that were distributed to the voters to lure them.

The meat shops in the rural areas had good sales as it was Sunday and thanks to the contestants, sumptuous feast was cooked up in the households. With continuous spell of rains for the last two days, the farming community at some places in the district were seen busy working in their fields tilling the soil unmindful of election results.

Sunday recorded dry weather till 4 pm, but heavy rains lashed out at many places by the time the results were out. Meanwhile, police opened fire at Mulalanka village of Kalidindi mandal in the evening as a few Telugu Desam activists tried to runaway with the ballot boxes after knowing that they lost the seat to Congress by 37 votes.

"It was an attempt to disperse the mob gathered in the village and nobody was hurt in the firing. The elections were peaceful as we monitored every polling station carefully. However, the police patrolling would continue for a few more days to avoid post-poll violence," the district SP Murugesh Kumar Singh told this correspondent.

Meanwhile, polling in Guntur was also peaceful. Of the 340 panchayats notified in Guntur division in 18 mandals, 68 sarpanches and 1,205 ward members have been elected unanimously. Among the remainingf 261 panchayats, district collector G. Jayalakshmi postponed the election for 11 panchayats in Kollur and Battiprolu mandals, due to the floods and the polling was completeded for the rest of the panchayats in 2,918 polling centres.

District panchayat officer Radhakrishna said the Election Commission agreed to conduct the elections in the flood-hit panchayats on August 9.

Khammam, Aug. 6: Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy on Sunday said that the State government has been taking all steps to rescue the flood victims of the Godavari river in Bhadra-chalam division and pucca houses would be built to them under Indiramma programme.

Speaking to mediapersons here on Sunday, Dr Reddy said the water level of the Godavari river is 65.7 feet and the situation is expected continue for another two days.He said three Air Force helicopters are making sorties to drop food, water and milk to the 43 most-affected villages, which were cut off from the rest of the State.

The Chief Minister said 75,000 people from 167 villages were shifted to relief camps. He assured that a bund similar to the one existing at Bhadrachalam would be built to protect Burgumpahad constituency.
Among 14 mandals affected by the floods, five mandals — Kunav-aram, Chintoor, Kukkunoor, V.R. Puram and Velierpad — were badly affected, Dr Reddy said.

Dismissing the apprehensions over floods causing damage to more areas after Polavaram project was built, Dr Reddy said the irrigation experts of the Central Water Commission ha-ve approved the project in 1980.

Accusing some newspapers of creating unnecessary fears among people, Dr Reddy said that the government has been constructing the projects in the interest of the nation. He said Congress president Sonia Gandhi enquired about the Godavari floods and asked the government to take all steps to save the people. On the Central help, he said that the government would take a decision after getting all estimates of the crop and property loss from district collectors.

Srikakulam, Aug. 6: Three days after the rains caused by the deep depression in the Bay gave up, Srikakulam district continued to reel under water. Garbage piled up in the villages and huge heaps were also seen in the town.

According to official figures, 212 villages in 17 mandals were partially under water threatening outbreak of epidemics. Similarly, eight colonies on the outskirts of the town were still under water. Officials said 33 mandals out of 38 were affected by the floods. Of them, 17 were badly hit by the overflow of Nagavali and Vamsadhara rivers. A clear picture of damage is slowly emerging.

According to estimates, 3,476 minor irrigation and agricultural ponds were damaged. A total of 765 schools and roads under panchayat raj, 557 roads under R&B department, 137 protected water schemes under Rural Water Supply scheme, 1,467 high tension power lines and 46 units of government property under Srikakulam municipality and 182 units under fisheries department suffered damage.

Collector V.N, Vishnu said Srikakulam town and Boorja mandal were worst- hit by the floods. Five villages under Boorja were still cut off from the outside world due to huge breaches to the approach road. Proclainers were pressed into service so that the road communication could be restored for supply of relief material, he said.

About 25 pump-sets were deployed to pump out the water from the colonies which were still under water. Water tankers from the neighbouring villages were being brought to these colonies as the borewell water could have been contaminated, Mr Vishnu said. Similarly, bleaching powder would be sprayed all over and water sources would be chlorinated.

“We are taking all measure to prevent outbreak of epidemics,” the collector told this correspondent from Kotturu. A review meeting was conducted with all the senior officials of various departments, he added.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 6: Minister for commercial taxes Konatala Ramakrishna appealed to the people living on the hills in and around the city to shift to plain area, which is safer during calamities. Speaking to hilltop residents at Gajuwaka, Mr Ramakrishna said that State government would extend help in construction of new houses in plain areas under various schemes.

“The State government will provide subsidy of around Rs 60,000 for construction of each pucca house or will construct houses under G+3 category. It’s better the hill top residents vacate their houses as soon as possible as it is not safe to live on hills,” he said.

Three hill top residents of Gajuwaka and Gopalapatnam were killed when the houses in which they were staying collapsed due to torrential rains on Thursday and Friday. The minister visited these places and consoled the families of the victims. He also enquired with the officials accompanied him about the payment of compensation and ex gratia to the victims’ families.

Mr Ramakrishna visited various other places in the city that were affected by the Friday’s heavy rain. He visited the Yerrigedda and SNR canal the major drains in the city, where he held discussions about the modification works that has to be taken up for these drains to put an end to the inundation and water logging problem in the low-lying areas. He added that already funds were sanctioned under JNURM scheme for the drain modification.

Visakhapatnam, Aug. 6: Three persons were killed and four others injured as the driver of a water tanker lost control after its brakes failed on the beach road on Sunday.

The water tanker hit the pedestrians and the road divider. It then rolled down into the beach and overturned. A woman pedestrian and the driver of the water ta-nker died on the spot, whi-le another pedestrian died at King George Hospital.

Four others are being treated at KGH, according to the three town Inspector Vasupalli Bhima Rao.Police are yet to identify the deceased. With the day being Sunday, the beach was packed with the visitors.