Floods bring AP to its knees, death toll climbs to 31; people stranded and highways closed
Amaravati(PTI): In Andhra Pradesh, hundreds of vehicles and passengers were stranded, traffic was either closed or suspended in arterial highways and over 100 trains cancelled snapping rail-road link between southern and other parts of the country as the Penna river in spate caused heavy destruction on Sunday.
Toll in rain-related incidents in different districts of Andhra Pradesh touched 31 as more bodies were retrieved from the flooded streams.
The Chennai-Kolkata National Highway-16 remained cut off for traffic between Nellore and Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh as was the Chennai grand trunk rail route severing the all important link between the southern and eastern and northern parts of the country.
The South Central Railway informed that more than a 100 express trains were cancelled because of the damage caused to the rail track at Padugupadu near Nellore and 29 more diverted via other routes.
In Kadapa district alone, at least 18 people were dead, crops on hundreds of acres destroyed, heads of cattle washed away and tens of houses in villages were reduced to rubble as flash floods due to a breach of the Annamayya project's earthen bund on Cheyyeru river caused havoc. In Kadapa city, a mother and child, who were trapped on the second floor of a building were rescued in the nick of time by police and fire services personnel, just before the three-storied building folded like a pack of cards in the wee hours. Floodwater gushing out from the Veligallu reservoir led to the collapse of a bridge on river Papagni cutting off road link between Kadapa and Anantapuramu districts.
As floods caused devastation, the Chennai-Kolkata National Highway-16 had to be closed down for traffic in SPS Nellore district following a heavy breach at Padugupadu.
The State Disaster Management Authority said more than two lakh cusecs of floodwater flowed out of the Somasila reservoir in SPS Nellore district, leading to the deluge.
This caused breach of the National Highway-16 at Kovuru as well.
Consequently, traffic on the NH-16 between Nellore and Vijayawada has been suspended, leaving hundreds of vehicles stranded for kilometers on either side.
Hundreds of passengers were stuck in the Nellore RTC bus station as bus services were disrupted.
Vehicular traffic coming from Srikalahasti has been stopped at Tottembedu check post and diverted via Pamuru and Darsi, officials said.
Togurupeta, Mandapalli, Pulapathur and Gundlur presented a picture of haunted villages in the wake of the devastation due to the breach vis-a-vis the Annamayya project's earthen bund.
Annamayya is a medium irrigation project with a gross capacity of only 2.24 tmc ft on Cheyyeru, a tributary of Penna river, in Rajampet constituency. It caters to an ayacut of 22,500 acres, besides fulfilling the drinking water needs of 140 habitations.
The Pincha project upstream breached, letting out all floodwater into Annamayya while water from Seshachalam too came gushing in because of very heavy rainfall, resulting in an overall discharge of over two lakh cusecs.
That pushed Cheyyeru river into spate, inundating at least 10 villages downstream in Rajampet and Nandaluru mandals, and leaving widespread destruction in its wake.
It was nothing but gross mismanagement on the part of the administration. Didn't they know about the flood when there was such heavy rain? Why were we not even alerted about the coming danger before it destroyed us? angry villagers of Mandapalli and Togurupeta questioned.
Except for some kind-hearted volunteers, the administration did not come to their help in any way, they lamented.
Ours is the first village right under Annamayya project. We lost our houses, cattle, belongings everything. Some of our villagers were killed. There is no place for us to go, the surviving residents of Togurupeta, a hamlet of about 500 people, said.
The temple of the local goddess, which somehow remained intact, has now turned into the only shelter zone for the hapless villagers.
Mandapalli presented a heartrending sight. Two families were completely wiped out as seven people in all were killed in the flood fury. Another family lost two persons.
Kadapa district Collector Vijaya Rama Raju told PTI that the dam breach was the major factor that caused such a major calamity.
The river course changed but the dam breach was what caused the real destruction. We still moved some 600 people to safety, he said.
Yes, it was a major calamity, the scale of which could not be imagined, Raju added.
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Real Madrid fines Valverde and Tchouaméni half a million euros each for altercation
Barcelona (AP): Real Madrid slapped players Federico Valverde and Aurélien Tchouaméni with half-a-million-euro ($588,000) fines on Friday for their altercation during practice.
The massive fines came a day after the midfielders tussled when the team trained. Valverde said in a post on social media on Thursday that no punches were thrown. But Valverde knocked his head on a table and he suffered a small cut that required a brief hospital visit.
On social media, Valverde initially called it a “meaningless fight” with a teammate and said “everything has been blown out of proportion."
His employers, however, considered it a significant enough breach of team discipline to nail both Valverde and Tchouaméni with fines that bite even the bank account of a top soccer player. The half-a-million euro penalties reflect the reputational damage the club was enduring in a chaotic end to a disappointing season.
In a statement, the 15-time European champion said its disciplinary action was concluded after both players expressed to the club “their complete remorse for what happened and apologized to one another.”
Madrid added they also apologized to their teammates, the coaching staff and club supporters, as well as showing their willingness to accept whatever disciplinary action the club deemed “opportune.”
Tchouaméni was back training with Madrid on Friday, two days before they play at Barcelona in a clasico. Madrid has to win otherwise Barcelona will be crowned La Liga champion.
After being notified of the fine, he posted a public apology to the club and its fans on social media.
“What happened this week in training is unacceptable,” Tchouaméni wrote. "I say this while thinking about the example we are expected to set for young people, whether in football or at school.
“Above all, I am sorry for the image we projected of the club.”
Valverde was not at practice due to the head knock.
Both players are set to play in the World Cup next month, with Tchouaméni playing for France and Valverde for Uruguay.
Chaotic end to a poor season
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The run-in between the players, who for seasons have played side by side in Madrid's midfield, came after they argued this week in previous training sessions. But tempers boiled over on Thursday. Spanish media was rife with reports that the players previously disagreed over the club's decision to let coach Xabi Alonso go after just months on the job.
It was not the only altercation involving Madrid players during training this week. Álvaro Carreras confirmed he was in a “minor” incident with a teammate. Spanish media said he and fellow defender Antonio Rüdiger got into a scuffle.
Álvaro Arbeloa, the coach who was promoted from Madrid's reserve team when Alonso was fired in January, will face tough questions on what went wrong inside the changing room when he gives a press conference on Saturday ahead of the clasico at Camp Nou.
Madrid is facing a second consecutive campaign without a major trophy amid rumors in the Spanish media that club president Florentino Pérez is considering bringing back Jose Mourinho to straighten out his underperforming team.
