Andhranews

Kurnool / Kadapa / Anantapur, Sept. 15: Heavy rains continue to lash the Rayalaseema districts due to the low-pressure effect. Rains that were lashing for the past four days disrupted normal life in Anantapur district. As a result, several low-lying areas faced flood threat. Though the rivers and rivulets in the district were flowing normally with less water in the absence of rains in their upper reaches, water logging could be seen in agricultural fields.

While 45 mm rain was witnessed in Bommanahal mandal, Kuderu received 44 mm and more than one cm rain was noticed in over 12 mandals of the district. The agricultural scientists opine that the rain would be useful to those farmers who go for alternative crops.

The rains that were witnessed in Kurnool district for the past two days spread to other areas of the region also on Friday and a record 25 cm rainfall was witnessed in Srisailam. Likewise, Gadiv-emula got 14 cm rain and 11 cm rainfall was recorded in Atmakur. An average rai-nfall of 37.4 cm was recorded in the district on Friday. There was a light drizzle to moderate rain in 51 mandals of the district.

However, Adoni and Maddikera mandals did not witness even a single drop of rain. Normal life was paralysed in Nandyal division due to the downpour since Friday afternoon till late in the night. The Kundu river which was flowing pleasantly till 8 am on Friday received huge floodwaters and the water level suddenly went up. Immediately, flood alert was sounded in the riparian areas and the people were also alerted over possible flood threat.

According to officials ov-er 30,000 cusecs of water is flowing in Kundu river. Tr-affic came to a halt as water was overflowing on the bri-dge at Rani-Maharani theat-res area on SRBC road. Se-veral crops were submerged in Banaganapalli and Avuk mandals due to heavy rains.
Moderate to heavy rain was witnessed in various areas of Kadapa district. Almost all the mandals received good amount of rainfall. Rayachoti, Lakkireddipalle, Badwel, Kamalapur mandals, which were suffering from acute drought for the past few years received good rains.

Kundu river is overflowing in the district due to heavy rains in upper reaches. The old bridge constructed on the Kundu river at Alladupalle temples was almost submerged in the floodwaters. Even the Potladurthi rivulet between Proddutur and Yarraguntla was also overflowing due to heavy rains for the past two days. As a result traffic came to a halt. There was a good rain in Duvvur also and all the tanks were brimming with water.As the rivulets were overflowing, Penna river also suffered floods. Traffic was disrupted as water is overflowing on the causeway.

Kurnool, Sept. 15: The State government had initiated steps to provide a permanent solution to the irrigation problem in the district, said minister for commercial taxes and district in-charge minister Konathala Ramakrishna.

Addressing the Congress workers at the local district party office on Friday, he said that a delegation of State ministers met Karnataka Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy two days ago and urged him to take steps to prevent pilferage of water by Karnataka farmers, which was due to the far-mers of Andhra Pradesh un-der Tungabhadra High Le-vel Canal (HLC) and Low Level Canal (LLC) ayacuts.

It was also agreed to post Central Industrial Security Force (CISF) personnel along the canal to check the water pilferage, the minister said.
As of now, the LLC is getting 520 cusecs of water near the district borders, he added.

Mr Ramakrishna further said that the State government is contemplating different plans to safeguard the LLC water. As part of the measures, the State government is looking into different kinds of protection including modernisation of the canal, laying of pipelines in place of the canal or to dig another canal for the supply of water from Tungabhadra reservoir. A decision would be taken soon on the implementation of one among the three solutions.

He reiterated that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had already issued orders to take up employment schemes on the lines of National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme to prevent migration of agricultural labourers, with funds from State government. The government is also contemplating measures to build more dams to utilise the additional waters of Tungabhadra.

Ongole, Sept. 15: Owing to change in weather conditions, poor sanitation and mosquito menace, viral, malaria and chikungunya cases are rampant in more than 20 mandals of the district. Kandukur and Markapuram revenue divisions are being badly affected by the diseases.
Thousands of people are suffering from these fevers and at least four children died in Kandukur, Podili and Ardhaveedu mandals in the last one week.

Chikungunya cases are rampant in the backward Nallamala forest areas and plain areas like Podili, Chimakurthy, Kandukur, VV Palem mandals. Most of the victims are suffering from joint pains, body pains and weakness. Malaria cases are rampant in Chimakurthy mandal due to granite quarries. Water logged in quarries has become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Kandukur is the worst affected area in recent weeks. Viral fevers are rampant in at least seven mandals in the division. Two children died due to viral fevers in the last one week in Kandukur mandal. Speaking to this newspaper, district medical and health officer Sonarbabu said that medical camps were being conducted near Machavaram in Kandukur mandal and Addanki Road area in Darsi for viral fever victims.

He suggested that people drink boiled water and maintain cleanliness.
“The department will depute teams to all parts of the district to render medical assistance. Local bodies must also take responsibility to maintain cleanliness and check the spread of diseases,” he said.

Kuppam, Sept. 15: Telugu Desam (TD) president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday termed the war of words between the Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) and the Congress as “high drama to gain attention.”

Speaking to reporters during a visit to a primary healthcare centre (PHC) at Mallanur in Kuppam constituency, Mr Naidu flayed both the parties for locking horns, while people of the State were reeling under various problems like chikungunya, power cuts and drought.

Mr Naidu alleged that the government transferred several government staff from Kuppam constituency as part of a vilification campaign. Referring to the irrigation and drinking water needs of the people of Kuppam, he said that they had every right to construct the Palar project. Pointing to the objections raised by the Tamil Nadu government against the project in the court, he said that the court verdict came in favour of AP government’s proposal to build the project.

Later, taking part in a road show at Mallanur, Mr Naidu demanded that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy tender an apology to farmers for police caning them while they were demonstrating against power cuts. Ridiculing the Chief Minister for claiming to be farmer-friendly, he expressed surprise over his inability to provide power for at least seven hours a day for agricultural needs.

Mr Naidu reeled out the development works he had initiated during his tenure as chief minister at Mallanur village. Meanwhile, the TD president received a rousing reception when he arrived at Adavibuduguru village by helicopter from Bangalore.

Eluru, Sept. 15: Special police parties and Greyhound teams intensified combing operations in the forest region of Polavaram mandal in West Godavari district following an exch-ange of fire with the Janasakthi Naxalites on Wednesday. Three Naxalites were arrested and an arms dump seized.

Eluru range deputy inspector general (DIG) C.V. Anand told newsmen that as a sequel to the exchange of fire resulting in the death of two Naxalites near Mulagalagudem forests under Polavaram mandal, the police intensified search operations for the other Naxalites belonging to the CPI-ML Janasakthi Kranti dalam over the past two days.

Naxalite Konda Sanjeeva Reddy was arrested and based on the information given by him, two more Naxalites were arrested in Mamidivalasa under Devi-patnam mandal. An arms dump was also unearthed, he added. Those arrested were Kathula Sanjeeva Reddy of Mamidivalasa and Kon-athala Mallaiah of Kachuluru.

The DIG said that an 8 mm rifle, a Springfield rifle, three damaged magazines, 55 Springfield weapon rounds, 101 8 mm rifle rounds, 12 live rounds, five magazines and extremist literature were seized from them.
He said that after the exchange of fire, dalam commanders and members Jampanna, Jeevan, Madhava Reddy alias Daya, Karim alias Chand Pasha, Suresh, Lalitha, Sunil, Sarada, Rama and others escaped.

Mr Anand said that they had specific information of extortion by the Naxalites and added that 22 cases were registered against Konda Sanjeeva Reddy at Karimnagar, Nizamabad and other areas. The DIG said that Sanjeeva Reddy was an accused in the murder of Kinne Rajareddy of Bandalingampalli and also in the murder of Saser of Agunur in Karimnagar district in 2002. In addition to that, he was also accused in the murder case of Mallaiah in Medak district and an attempt to murder case.

Rajahmundry, Sept. 15: Minister for roads and buildings Jakkampudi Ramamohana Rao assured developmental works in all the 44 wards in the Municipal Corporation, irrespective of party politics. The minister took part in a ward meeting at ward No. 21 here on Friday.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Rao said that since the ward was selected as model ward under the Indiramma programme, all eligible beneficiaries would be given houses under the one plus two category. He also assured distribution of pensions worth Rs 45 lakhs to about 900 widows, and said that if the women’s groups who had availed loans earlier could clear them, they would get fresh loans as banks were ready to provide loans worth Rs 10 crores in the district.

Mr Rao promised housing complexes for all those involved in the automobile industry. Stating that the Congress government led by the Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had increased pensions to Rs 200 from Rs 75, he asked those who have not received them to apply immediately.

The minister announced house sites to 19 families at the Annamayyachari area. For the safety of schoolchildren in the ward limits, the minister directed the concerned officials to construct speed-breakers and also directed for taking up requisite repair works to the Judge Bungalow reservoir. Later, the minister laid the foundation stone for works worth Rs 24.75 lakhs. Mayor M.S. Chakravarthi and others were present.

Warangal, Sept. 15: With the appointment of Soumya Mishra as the new superintendent of police (SP) of Warangal, all the three crucial administrative posts and two elected posts in the district are held by women. Apart from Ms Mishra, the all-woman team comprises district collector K. Damayanti, municipal commissioner Smita Sabharwal, both IAS officers, zilla parishad (ZP) chairperson K. Dhanwanthi and mayor E. Swarna.

The appointment of Ms Mishra, who is presently working as the deputy commissioner of police (crimes) Cyberabad, as the Warangal SP surprised many, as the assignment was considered “tough” given the Maoist presence in the district. “I have no doubt that we (woman officials) will make a difference to the district. We will turn the district into a well developed and well managed place. There should not be any doubt as women have time and again proved that they were more capable of doing any job however ‘tough’ it may be,” feels collector Damayanti.

The collector said that there would not be any problem of coordination since all the officers and the public representatives are committed to develop the district and the city. Municipal commissioner Ms Sabharwal is excited to work with the likes of Ms Damayanti and Ms Mishra. “This (the appointment of Ms Mishra as SP) has come as a pleasant surprise to me. I have heard about her tough attitude and her achievements while she worked at Vizianagaram, Karimnagar and Cyberabad. I hope she will do wonders here (Warangal) too,” said Ms Sabharwal, who succeeded Ms Neetu Prasad.

Public representatives feel working with woman IAS and IPS officers will be more easier. “We can strike an instant rapport with a woman officer and work in tandem with them for the development of the district,” feels mayor Swarna. “The grievances of the people will be solved and development will get an impetus under the women team,” said ZP chief Dhanwanti.

Warangal has witnessed a lot of activity ever since woman officers and elected representatives have taken over the mantle. Citizens here feel that the woman officers and elected heads have exhibited more dynamism. They feel woman officers and elected heads mean business and they are more committed towards their job. Former municipal commissioner Neetu Prasad is credited with giving a facelift to the city. In the process she withstood pressures from several quarters.

“It is always a known fact that woman officers try to leave their own mark in their job and they work with more commitment. I welcome this all-woman team,” Mr Ramarao Puvvala, a systems administrator, said.
Similar views were echoed by many people who said that woman officers would be more sympathetic to their problems.

“Though they (women) are duty-minded, they sometimes cause inconvenience to the public as they are strict while enforcing the rules. They will not consider to amend rules even for a good cause,” said Mr A. Venkanna, a teacher. But a majority of the people welcomed the all-woman team in the district and hope that this backward district of Telangana will be developed under them.

Nizamabad/Adilabad, Sept. 15: Medak MP and senior Telangana Rashtra Samiti (TRS) leader A. Narendra welcomed the statement of Congress MP from Nizamabad Madhu Goud Yashki on separate Telangana State and urged other Congress leaders to emulate him. Mr Narendra took part in a protest staged by the district TRS unit in front of the Nizamabad collectorate on Friday in protest against the State government’s failure to supply seven-hour-power to agriculture.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Narendra said that he and TRS president K. Chandrasekhar Rao had tendered resignations to the Union Cabinet to fight for a separate Telangana State. Referring to power supply, he alleged that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had failed to supply seven-hour power to agricultural sector to protect standing crops. A total of 1,450 farmers had committed suicide in these two years, Mr Narendra alleged.

The TRS leader said that more deaths would take place if the State government did not respond quickly on the power supply front. “A total of 55,000 acres in Telangana districts would become barren due to the State government’s decision on power supply,” he said. Objecting to the Chief Minister’s statement that protesting farmers were Rajakiya Rythulu (political farmers), Mr Narendra demanded that Dr Reddy tender an apology to farmers. Yellareddy MLA Yenugu Ravinder Reddy, Zilla Parishad chairperson Gadari Anitha and other leaders spoke.

Meanwhile, tension prevailed in Adilabad on Friday as hundreds of TRS activists and leaders laid siege to the collectorate demanding 12-hour power supply to agriculture sector as standing crops were withering away. A large number of police personnel were deployed at the collectorate and its main gates closed following the TRS efforts to besiege it.

Tension prevailed when police stopped the TRS activists led by Adilabad MP T. Madhusudhan Reddy, who tried to enter into the collectorate. Jostling took place between the police and TRS activists, with a few TRS activists managing to sneak into the collectorate. The TRS activists staged a protest in front of the collectorate.

Kuppam, Sept. 15: Telugu Desam (TD) president and former chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu alleged on Friday that the State government had stopped all development works abruptly in his Kuppam constituency because people of the region had voted for him.

Speaking to reporters during his visit to a health care centre at Mallanur in Kuppam constituency, Mr Naidu appealed to the government to take revenge on him, but not on the people of his constituency. He reminded that the TD had paid equal attention to the development of Pulivendula, the constituency of Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.

Warangal/Nalgonda, Sept. 15: Six Maoists, including Maoist Karimnagar east division secretary Alvala Saraiah alias Madhu, and three women Maoists, were killed in two encounters with the police in Warangal and Nalgonda districts on Friday.

In an encounter in Tadwai forests in Warangal district, four Maoists were killed. The police recovered an AK-47 rifle, three .303 rifles, and five kit bags. The identity of the remaining women Maoists is yet to be established. Two Maoists were killed in an encounter near Teldavarpalli in Krishnapatti forest area of Nalgonda police station limits on Friday evening.

Karimnagar, Sept. 15: As children watch with a smile, a doll on the ventriloquist’s lap recites the numerals in Telugu. After this brief foray into mathematics, the ventriloquist and his doll have a conversation, laced with humour, about the evils of superstition, child labour and illiteracy.
This is not a scene from a carnival or a visiting circus but a regular class hour in the government upper primary school at Kumarwadi in Karimnagar.

The teacher-cum-ventroloquist is Marepalli Srinivas, 37, who is heralding a creative revolution in teaching methods. Surely, learning can be fun if your teacher is armed with a talking doll and a smile. Thanks to his innovative technique, children are easily picking up fundamentals of Telugu, science and mathematics. The humorous conversation between Srinivas and his talking doll also stimulates the children’s curiosity on various issues and gives them basic awareness on social evils.

“My talking doll, whose name is Funny, is of great help in teaching,” says Srinivas, who is also the president of the district magicians association. A recipient of several awards and distinctions, he had participated in a national seminar on “Play Way Methods in Education” held in Sikkim last year. “I am now trying to disseminate knowledge in a play way method,” says Srinivas with the doll on his lap. “The more we employ innovative methods, the deeper will be the impact on young minds.”

Srinivas is an ardent fan of Kamal Haasan and it was the latter’s enactment of a ventriloquist in the movie ‘Anthulenikatha,’ which inspired him. “Srinivas is able to blend art and education in a creative manner,” says K. Ramesh, his colleague. Students adore Funny and love to sit in Srinivas’ classes. “I like the way he depicts characters in history,” says P. Sadhana, a class-VII student. K. Nagaraju, who was planning to shift his daughter Usha to another school, dropped the idea after she insisted that she was having so much fun here.

Vijayawada, Sept. 15: Most of the villages located on the banks of river Krishna suffer from non-availability of drinking water. Several gram panchayats in the district, particularly in the upland mandals of the western part of the district, face the crisis. They have no drinking water or the water available is unsafe and polluted.

The villages of Jaggaiahpet, Nandigama, Myla-varam, Tiruvur and Nuzvid Assembly segments experience drinking water crisis like any other village in Telangana or Rayalaseema regions. More than 30 villages of Mylavaram and Tiruvur Assembly segment have water that has less fluoride content leading to tooth decay and other health disorders.

The problem is more in Reddygudem, A Kondur and Chatrai mandals caused by the unprotected drinking water. Even in the five municipalities in the district and the lone Vijayawada Muni-cipal Corporation water is not sufficient for the people. In all the five municipalities of Jaggaiahpet, Nuzvid, Gudivada, Pedana and Machilipatnam, drinking water is supplied only for couple of hours in the morning and evening, which is not sufficient.

On the other hand, mineral water companies have been doing a whooping business in these areas, besides Mandavilli and Kaikaluru mandals where water is salty due to presence of the Kolleru lake and the backwaters from the sea. Jaggaiahpet municipality is not in a position to supply drinking water round-the-clock.

Guntur, Sept. 15: The long-awaited financial pac-kage of the Centre for districts which have witnessed recurrent suicides by farmers will be announced by this month-end.
Tenali MP V. Balasouri told this correspondent here on Friday that the package would consist of agricultural credit, loan rescheduling, interest rate reduction, improving irrigation facilities and livestock development.

Guntur will be one of the 31 districts in the country to get this package, which will be officially announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. Farmers’s suicides have been quite high in Guntur with the Nars-araopet division in Palnadu region recording the largest number of deaths.

Experts point out that the belated transition of Palnadu to modern agricultural techniques was one of the reasons for the increase in farmers’ suicides. Almost 85 per cent of the farmers who committed suicide were cultivating commercial crops. Another major factor was the exploitation by moneylenders and the hesitation of banks to extend agricultural credit. Wives of many dead farmers also took their lives after they found it difficult to bear the burden of debt.

Kotabommali (Srikakulam), Sept. 15: A case under SC, ST Atrocities (Prevention) Act was registered by the local police against K. Atchannaidu, Telugu Desam (TD) MLA from Harischandrapuram and younger brother of TD Parliamentary Party(TDPP) leader K. Yerrannaidu here on Friday.

The complaint was lodged by Ippili Tata Rao, a Dalit, of Kothapeta village of this mandal. Mr Tata Rao brought his wife Ammanna to the community hospital for treatment on Thursday evening and pleaded with the hospital doctor S. Kondaiah for immediate attention.

At that time the hospital advisory meeting was going on. Dr Kondaiah replied that he would treat the patient after the meeting was over. However, Mr Tata Rao remained adamant and repeated his request. MLA Atchannaidu and another TD leader Boina Ramesh who were present at the meeting allegedly abused Mr Tata Rao in the name of his caste and asked him to get out of the hospital.

Assistant sub-inspector (ASI) B.R.K. Reddy told reporters that a case has been filed against the MLA, Ramesh and Dr Kondaiah. Kasibugga deputy superintendent of police Ch. Ramachandra Rao was investigating the case, Mr Reddy said. Another complaint under the same Act was registered against Kothapeta former sarpanch R. Mukunda Reddy, R. Ranga Reddy and Datla Joga Rao following a complaint by the same community health centre employees Devadi Lakshmi and Devadi Rama Rao.

The complainants alleged that Mukunda Reddy and his followers abused them in the name of their caste when they went to know what was happening during the altercation between the MLA and Mr Tata Rao, the ASI added.

Srikakulam, Sept. 15: Revenue minister and local MLA Dharmana Prasada Rao and Telugu Desam (TD) MLA from Harsichandrapuram K. Atchannaidu had a heated exchange of words over the distribution of ration cards at the district review committee (DRC) meeting held here on Friday.

The meeting was going on peacefully when Mr Atchannaidu alleged the Congress government had failed to distribute ration cards in the villages and the agency areas. “Eligible members were not given cards and some people were left without cards in many villages. The issue was raised in the last DRC meeting but the response from the district administration was poor,” the TD MLA alleged.

In response to this, Mr Prasada Rao said the TD in its nine-year rule had failed to distribute ration cards and the Congress government led by Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy had taken up the issue with determination and distributed cards to 99 per cent of the population. “If the TD leader is demanding cards for the remaining one per cent, what was their government doing in their nine year tenure?’’ the minister questioned the members.

He added that due to local elections and the floods in three spells the distribution of cards was interrupted. The programme would be resumed soon, he said. District in-charge minister M. Mareppa presided over the meeting.