Tirupati Urban Development Authority (TUDA) chairman and Chandragiri MLA Chevireddi Bhaskar Reddy on Saturday said that the Rayalacheruvu tank in Ramachandrapuram mandal was safe, and appealed to the people of villages at the down-reaches to return to their houses.
The district administration had evacuated hundreds of families and shifted them to rehabilitation centres after a leak was found in the bund of the tank following heavy rain last week.
The MLA, who camped at the tank zone, oversaw the works to plug the leak. Thousands of cement bags were dumped at the site to accomplish the task. An IAF helicopter was also deployed to provide meals to the stranded people in marooned villages. He thanked Tirumala Tirupati Devathanams (TTD) and Bharti Cements for supplying the cement bags.
On Saturday, Mr. Bhaskar Reddy performed special pujas at the tank. “In future, foolproof plan would be in place to permanently prevent leakages to the tank. We are constantly monitoring inflows, and already drained out 4,000 cusecs of flood waters and brought down the water level by 4-foot,” Mr. Bhaskar Reddy said.
Meanwhile, the body of a Tirupati resident was traced at the Cotton Mill area on the Renigunta road on Saturday. The deceased had gone missing on November 18 after heavy floods ravaged Tirupati. After a week-long search operation, the body was finally traced by the NDRF teams.
