By Monday skies will be clear: IMD
Sarthak Kanjilal
Port Blair, May 06: Heavy rain on Saturday disrupted normal life in Andaman and Nicobar Islands. According to Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) since morning 8.30 am to evening 5.30 pm A & N Islands received 12 cm of rainfall. Heavy rain caused water logging in many places of Port Blair city.
“We have reports of land sliding at South Point and Shadipur area. In Austinabad area rain water gushed inside a few houses. There is no report of any kind of damage,” sources in South Andaman’s disaster control room told ‘Andaman Sheekha’ today.
However, Andaman Sheekha team found that at Austinabad near Mariyamma Temple the main drain was overflowing, which resulted in inundation of a portion of Austinabad-Brichgunj Road. The stagnant water flooded a several houses in the locality.
Near Ummat Public School a complete colony faced threat of flooding as stagnant rain inundated the entire area. “After our pressure authorities had cleaned the low lying area (natural drain) of Austinabad in 2009 but after 2009 the said drain was never cleaned. Moreover, near our house a private land owner has raised a retaining wall on the said drain, which blocked the rainwater and caused flooding. If this natural drain is cleaned every year the authorities can save all the houses in this area from flooding,” Jitesh Chand, a resident of Austinabad Ummat Public School Colony told ‘Andaman Sheekha’.
Water logging also caused miseries and traffic chaos in Brichgunj Junction (Near Andaman Bottling Plant) and Parthergadda Junction. Residents of these areas alleged that the drains in Brichgunj and Pathergudda are not cleaned on regular basis, which resulted in this problem.
Meanwhile heavy rain also caused power cuts in many places. The Port Blair Airport was inundated with rainwater, which also caused problem to passengers.
According to reports, heavy rainfall also caused problems for airlines. The Jetline Aircraft could not land at Port Blair because of zero visibility and heavy rainfall.
“This is not because of depression but because of Trough on Andaman Sea. From tomorrow onward rainfall will start to reduce and by Monday skies will be clear,” K S Kannan the incharge of Andaman IMD unit told ‘Andaman Sheekha’ today.
Yesterday, following heavy showers in the city, a major land slide took place at Japan Road, Dairy Farm, wherein a newly constructed toilet block, slipped down along with loose mud. No injuries as such were reported. Since January 1, 2012 A & N Islands received nearly 344.4 mm of rainfall.
