Lightning claims 8 lives in Guntur, Visakha districts

• Five waiting at Shamshabad railway station sustain serious injuries
• Rain lashes Kurnool, Khammam, Warangal districts
• Sunkesula Dam receives good inflows

Hyderabad: Torrential rains lashed several parts of the State, including Tirumala and some areas in Guntur and Kurnool districts, on Sunday under the influence of the depression prevailing in the Bay of A Bengal. Eight persons were struck dead by lightning at several places in Guntur district, which received unexpected rain and in Devarapally mandal of Visakhapatnam.

There were light showers in Khammam and East Godavari districts, while heavy rain occurred in Hanamkonda, Station Ghanpur and Mahabubabad areas in Warangal district. Power supply in several areas in the district was disrupted.A Heavy rain occurred in Tirumala for over one hour following cloudy weather since morning. Light showers turned into a downpour causing hardship to devotees. There was water-logging near the temple entrance. The TTD security wing cautioned drivers to move slowly to avoid accidents. People seemed to be enjoying the weather, which was in contrast to the hot spell prevailing in some parts of the State.

The dead in Guntur included Sadhu Subba Rao, Kakumanu Anjali Devi and a 12-year-old boy, who were rearing sheep and cattle. Lightning struck the victims as they were taking shelter under a tree. One person each died in Vengalayapalem of Guntur rural, in Machavaram of Ponnur mandal and in Usapalem in Cherukupally mandal. Five sheep perished in Cherukupally mandal. Gangula Venkateswarlu (55), a sheep-rearer, was struck by lightning while he was moving in the fields, according to details furnished by Mandal Revenue Officer K. Jayarama Rao.

Bathu Samibabu(67) of M G Nagar and Samanthula Samba Murthy(27) of Monakapally in Devarpally mandal of Visakhapatnam also died as lightning struck them.A Five persons waiting in the Shamshabad railway station in Hyderabad City sustained serious injuries when lightning coupled with heavy rain struck them. They were rushed to Osmania Hospital. While two of the injured belonged to Shamshabad mandal, two others, including a one-year-old boy, were from Odisha.

Meanwhile, Sunkesula dam, in Kurnool district, received heavy flood water following rains in the districts of Sindanur, Siriguppa and Bellari in Karnataka. About 3,400 cusecs from the Rajoli Banda Diversion Scheme reached the dam. It now has 0.7 tmc, as against the full capacity of 1.2 tmc. A Jawahar Reddy, Dam DE, said its water level had reached 0.65 ft thanks to the heavy flow of flood water. Following rain in Kowthalam, Pedda Thummalam and Mantrapayam constituencies in the district Tungabhadra River received heavy flood water, besides the flow from the Hagari River, in Bellari district.

The maximum day temperature of 40 degrees Celsius was recorded in Kurnool since Sunday morning. There were light showers in the evening in Kurnool, Banaganapally, Allagadda, Jupadubangla and their adjoining areas.

Rainfall Chittoor 7; Veeragattam 6, Therlam, Parvatipuram, Devarakonda 4 each, Koyyalagudem, Bobbili, Chintapalli , Polavaram, Shadnagar 3 each, Macharla, Narsipatnam, Palamner, Punganur, Suryapet 2 each, Pakala, Satyavedu, Rentachintala, Paderu, Kalwakurti, Nagarkurnool, Ramannapet, Mahbubnagar, Kollapur, Achampet, Miryalguda, Nalgonda, Ibrahimpatnam, Wanaparthi one each.