NTR District Collector said the cyclone situation is under control with no untoward incidents reported. "So far, there has been no untoward incident," he said. Officials are monitoring the Budameru area closely. Meanwhile, vote counting for local body elections continues peacefully, though heavy rains caused waterlogging in nearby Machilipatnam areas.
Speaking to ANI, the Collector underlined that no untoward incidents have been reported across the district so far. He also urged the public to cooperate fully with official directives, avoid unnecessary outdoor travel, and strictly follow safety advisories.
"So far, there has been no untoward incident. We are getting an average 1.52 or 2 millimeter rains average per hour. In the last two hours only, we got around 6 millimetres of rainfall. So our entire district administration is prepared. The Budameru catchment area is being monitored, and there is no imminent threat,” he said.
“All the road clearing and monitoring teams are deployed. The situation is not alarming. There are no major road blocks or disruptions. Everywhere, things are normal. We will continue to monitor the situation for the next 24 to 36 hours,” he said.
“I request the public to cooperate with the officials and follow the instructions. Please avoid travel or unnecessary movement outside. So whenever the government officials give instructions to shift to the rehabilitation centres, I request everyone to cooperate. So far, there is no issue,” he said.
Further, he assured that the counting of votes for the local body elections is proceeding peacefully in NTR district. The vote counting began at 8 am itself. As there are a large number of votes in the Vijayawada Corporation limits, elaborate arrangements have been made.
Despite rains, agents and staff reached on time. Counting is being carried out carefully without any scope for errors as per Election Commission norms. Heavy bandobast has been deployed outside counting centres and law and order is being monitored strictly.
Lakshmisha appealed to political party representatives and agents to extend full cooperation to election officials. He said if there are any doubts, they should directly contact the Returning Officer or the Collectorate Control Room.
The District Collector further requested people not to create unnecessary rumours and not to believe false propaganda.Meanwhile, incessant rains have been lashing Machilipatnam since last night due to the impact of Cyclone Murasu, inundating several areas.
Many areas of Machilipatnam have been waterlogged. The downpour disrupted the counting process as staff could not reach the counting centre on time due to the rain. Strong winds at the counting centre set up at Krishna University on November 3 blew away the tents.
To shift staff to the counting centres, the district administration arranged special buses and is transporting them to the centre. Municipal staff have taken up repair of tents on a war footing to ensure there is no obstruction to the counting process.
Fire and Rescue Services personnel are removing uprooted trees from the highway on a war footing following the impact of the cyclone. They are clearing the road to prevent disruption to vehicular traffic and restore normal transportation services for the public.