Vijayawada stalled as rain plays stop-start through the day; Guntur hit hard

VIJAYAWADA: Rain at regular intervals through the day pushed life out of gear in the city and the district on Tuesday. Overall, the Urban mandal saw rainfall of 29mm.

With low-lying areas inundated, school and office-goers suffered as traffic was hit at many areas in the city, especially in One Town, with Barrage Road, Kummaripalem Road, Kaleswara Rao Market, PCR Junction and Sambamurty Road witnessing traffic snarl.

Underpasses near the railway station and the Pundit Nehru Bus Station (PNBS) saw waterlogging. Waterlogging and overflowing drains near the NTR Circle irked commuters who were forced to wait at Benz Circle Junction. City commuters also suffered at Chirsturajapuram. Traffic was affected on the National Highway-16 from Nidamanuru to Kanaka Durga Varadhi. Roads were inundated in Gunadala, Machavaram, Ajit Singh Nagar and areas abutting Budameru.

In the district, Nandigama, Vatsavai, Agiripalle, Reddygudem and Kanchikacherla mandals witnessed heavy rainfall. While Nandigama witnessed highest rainfall with 78mm, Kanchikacherla saw 58 mm of rain.

However, rain was even heavier in Guntur district. Guntur city alone witnessed 116mm of rainfall on Tuesday. Many low-lying areas were inundated as Tenali, Bapatla, Repalle, Prathipadu, Amaravati and Sattenapalli mandals received heavy rainfall. Transportation was cut off between Pedakurapadu and Sattenapalli in Amaravati mandal as the road was flooded by a rivulet.

Water entered about 50 houses in low-lying areas of Amaravati. Transporation was hit in villages of Prathipadu, Repalle and Bapatla mandals.