There was extremely heavy rain in parts of Andhra Pradesh and Telangana with the capital city Hyderabad recording 192 mm rain on Tuesday, which is the highest ever October rain recorded in over 100 years. The all-time record for Hyderabad in October was 117.1 mm on Oct. 6, 1903, according to the India Meteorological Department (IMD). Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke to Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday after the two southern states were hit by heavy rains and assured them of all possible support and assistance from the center in the rescue-and-relief work. At least 10 and 15 people were killed in rain-related incidents across Andhra Pradesh and Telangana respectively, following torrential downpour in the last 48 hours. In a tweet, the prime minister said, "Spoke to @TelanganaCMO KCR Garu and AP CM @ysjagan Garu regarding the situation in Telangana and AP respectively due to heavy rainfall. Assured all possible support and assistance from the Centre in rescue & relief work. My thoughts are with those affected due to the heavy rains." The IMD has released a warning for extremely heavy rain (over 20 cm) in several places along the west coast including Madhya Maharashtra, Goa, Konkan and parts of coastal Karnataka on Wednesday. The deep depression which formed over west central Bay of Bengal crossed Andhra Pradesh coast close to Kakinada during early Tuesday morning continued to move west north-westwards across Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and north interior Karnataka. There was extremely heavy rain in parts of Andhra Pradesh on Tuesday. On Wednesday, M. Mohapatra, IMD director general, said the depression is weakening. "We are expecting it to move further west north-westwards and weaken into a well-marked low-pressure area during the next 24 hours. "But it will eventually immerse into eastern parts of Arabian Sea off Maharashtra coast around morning of Oct. 16," he said, adding that the system is likely to gain energy from the sea and there is possibility of further intensification into a depression in the next 24 hours, according to a Hindustan Times report. "We are expecting extremely heavy rainfall especially over Maharashtra Wednesday including Madhya (middle) Maharashtra, Goa, Konkan and coastal Karnataka," he added. IMD has warned of inundation in low-lying areas, traffic disruption and landslides in the ghat areas of Konkan and Karnataka. Mumbai and its suburbs, including Thane, Palghar and Raigad among other areas, may witness heavy to very heavy rainfall on Oct. 15 owing to intense rain-bearing weather systems over the east coast, according to reports. "There is an extremely low pressure area in the Bay of Bengal and the clouds developed because of it would be hovering on Maharashtra from Oct. 14 to 16," an official told news agency PTI. "It would result into heavy to extremely heavy rainfall over some parts of Maharashtra," the official added. According to IMD's website, strong wind speed reaching 30 to 40 kmph gusting to 50 kmph very likely to prevail around the system center and over Madhya, Maharashtra, Marathwada during the next 12 hours and gradually decrease thereafter. Meanwhile, Union minister Nitin Gadkari has written a letter to Chief Minister of Maharashtra Uddhav Thackeray, saying that rain water from Mumbai can be used for irrigation, supply to industries around the city and for horticulture in cities like Nashik and Ahmednagar, according to a report from Live Mint. Gadkari said that excess water can also be carried to drought-prone areas for domestic and other uses to overcome water scarcity, he said in the letter. "If systematically planned, flood water, drainage and sewerage can be diverted towards Thane (adjoining Mumbai), and the entire diverted influx can be stored in a dam after treating the water midway," he said. "This water can be used for irrigation and industries around the city and for horticulture purpose in cities like Nashik and Ahmednagar," Gadkari said. — Agencies
