CHENNAI ■ MADURAI ■ VIJAYAWADA BENGALURU ■ KOCHI ■ HYDERABAD ■ VISAKHAPATNAM ■ COIMBATORE ■ KOZHIKODE ■ THIRUVANANTHAPURAM ■ BELAGAVI ■ BHUBANESWAR ■ SHIVAMOgGA ■ MANGALURU ■ TIRUPATI ■ TIRUCHY ■ TIRUNELVELI ■ SAMBALPUR ■ HUBBALLI ■ DHARMAPURI ■ KOTTAYAM ■ KANNUR ■ VILLUPURAM ■ KOLLAM ■ TADEPALLIGUDEM ■ NAGAPATTINAM ■ THRISSUR ■ KALABURAGI ■ ■ tirupati l wednesday l december 06, 2023 l `9.00 l PAGES 12 l anantapur EDITION looking for normalcy Michaung dumped 43cm of rain on Chennai in two days and the city is struggling to recover Aamir khan rescued Actors Aamir Khan and Vishnu Vishal were among those rescued from Karapakkam by the Tamil Nadu Fire and Rescue Services using a boat patchy network 11 kmph Panic buying Mobile connectivity remained limited as at least 30% of mobile towers were not operational due to power outages Huge demand for essential goods, triggered panic buying across Chennai which in turn created a black market and price hikes for water & milk Speed at which the cyclone moved northwards before entering AP Death toll rises to 17, TN asks union govt for `5k cr E XPR E SS N E WS S E RVIC E @ Chennai Strong winds and downpour hit paddy crop at Nunna near Vijayawada; Heavy rainfall led to inundation of several streets in Vizag; Locals carefully tread through a road where a number of trees were uprooted at Narsapuram in West Godavari district on Tuesday | Prasant Madugula / G Satyanarayana / Express Rains caused under the influence of Cyclone Michaung flooded the roads in Tirupati on Tuesday; TNFRS personnel rescuing people from waterlogged Mudichur near Tambaram in Chennai | Madhav K / p ravikumar Michaung weakens after landfall near bapatla A long road to recovery ahead for chennai As per APSDMA, 58 mandals in seven districts were severely affected by the cyclone cyclone ravages standing crops Chittoor district agriculture officer Murali Krishna said crops in nearly 58,000 hectares were damaged due to heavy rains. In Krishna district, paddy in 42,179 hectares & groundnut in 690 hectares were damaged. Officials said clear picture will emerge after enumeration of crop loss schools in krishna, NTR to be shut All education institutions in Krishna and NTR districts will remain closed on Wednesday as well in view of heavy rain forecast. School Education commissioner S Suresh Kumar asked the District Collectors to declare holidays for educational institutions depending on the cyclone’s severity 23 FLIGHTS cancelled at vizag airport A total of 23 flights were cancelled at Vizag Airport on Tuesday due to adverse weather. Most of the cancelled flights were to Chennai, Tirupati & Vijayawada. Several trains originating or passing via Vijayawada division were either cancelled, short terminated or diverted for the day E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada Heavy rains lashed Tirupati, Nellore, Prakasam, NTR, Krishna, West Godavari and Konaseema districts as the severe cyclonic storm Michaung made landfall near Bapatla between 12:30 pm and 2:30 pm on Tuesday . After reaching the Nellore coast in the early hours of the day , the storm moved northwards parallel to the coastline, before making landfall near Bapatla. Suryalanka witnessed rough seas with two-metre-high waves hitting the coast. The sea also surged by a few metres in the coastal areas of Bapatla, Repalle, and Nizampatnam. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), the intensity of the cyclone decreased after the landfall. It is expected to move northwards and dissipate completely by Wednesday afternoon. Under its influence, Srikakulam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram-Manyam, Alluri Sitarama Raju, Eluru, Krishna and NTR districts are likely to record light to moderate rains. Fishermen have been advised not to venture into the sea. The strong winds and downpour in parts of the State resulted in inundation of several major roads, and uprooting of huge trees and electrical poles since Monday evening. The severe cyclone resulted in crop damage (agriculture and horticulture) in Nellore, Tirupati, Bapatla, Guntur, Krishna, NTR, Eluru, Konaseema, Kakinada, West and East Godavari districts. Officials said a clear picture will emerge after enumeration of crop loss, which will be taken up once the rains P4 recedes.  SIX 15,173 Relief people shifted to 204 relief Rescue & 80 camps medical works camps 18,073 food packets & over 1 lakh set up water bottles distributed teams each of NDRF & SDRF on the ground Rajput Karni Sena chief shot dead at his residence RA J E SH AS N A N I @ Jaipur Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi, the chief of right-wing group Shri Rashtriya Rajput Karni Sena, was shot dead at his Jaipur residence on Tuesday by three unidentified men. One of the assailants was killed in retaliatory firing by Gogamedi’s security guard but the other two escaped, police said. The assailants shot Gogamedi from close range. He was rushed to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead. Ajit Singh, Gogamedi’s guard who shot dead one of the assailants, sustained serious injuries in the attack. Jaipur Police Commissioner Biju George Joseph identified the slain assailant as Naveen Singh Shaktawat. Sources said Naveen was known to Gogamedi and he brought the other two to the house. The entire incident was cap- Constable on way to work killed in tree collapse E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Vijayawada A 45-year-old police constable died after a tree collapsed on him near Bhakrapet checkpost in YSR district on Tuesday morning. Satya Kumar was on his way to work on a bike when the incident took place. A 2004 batch officer of the 11th battalion of AP Special Police at Bhakarapeta in Siddavatam mandal, Satya Kumar lived in Gandhi Nagar SC Colony in Chennur mandal. Locals rushed him to RIMS Hospital in Kadapa, where he was declared dead. Satya Kumar is survived by his wife and a son. After post-mortem, the body was handed over to his family and a case was registered. This is the second death caused due to rain-related incidents. On Monday, a four-yearold boy died in a wall collapse in Tirupati district. M o h a n , S a h aya N o v i n s t o n L o b o & N i r u pa m a V i s w a n at h a n @ Chennai EVEN as arterial roads were largely cleared of waterlogging by Tuesday morning, many parts of north and south Chennai remained waist-deep in water, with residents forced to haul their children, pets and belongings with them as they tried to move to safer ground. Parts of Velachery, Madipakkam, Saidapet, Adyar, Pallikaranai and Karapakkam continued to be severely inundated, although rains eased from Monday night. By then, the 24-hour spell of intense rains brought by Cyclone Michaung had done its damage. In northern parts of the city, residents in Vyasarpadi, Old Washermanpet and Perambur were stranded amid heavy waterlogging and no power. With the Captain Cotton canal overflowing, streets in Kodungaiyur and Mullainagararound became inundated with water entering many houses. The Perambur Barracks Road, which connects northern parts of the city to the centre, had to be closed due to inundation. Several families in TANSI Nagar, AGS colony, Baby Nagar, Ram Nagar, VGP Selva Nagar were evacuated by boats by the State Disaster Response Force (SDRF) personnel although residents said the 20 boats deployed were hardly enough. TNIE spotted people wading through waist-deep water in these areas to get breakfast and lunch as relief food packets did not reach them. With mobile connectivity remaining curtailed, many people were seen engaged in heated arguments with auto drivers and grocery stores staff who insisted on cash payments. Without connectivity, residents were unable to make UPI payments and most ATMs did not have cash. One 26-year-old, who did not want to be named, said even share autos were charging more than `100 for a ride to Guindy . Both sides of the Velachery bridge were inundated. Residents crossing the bridge to get to Pallikaranai or Velachery were seen carrying milk packets, that an Aavin van was distributing on the bridge. Residents, however, said this was of little use as they had already vacated their houses and food packets would have been more helpful. E x p r e s s N e w s Se r v i c e @ Hyderabad tured on CCTV Police sources . said one of two men has been identified as a criminal gang member from Haryana. Meanwhile, gangster Rohit Godara, who is said to be holed up in Canada and has links with the gangs of Goldie Brar and Lawrence Bishnoi, claimed responsibility for the murder through a Facebook post. Gogamedi had tried to contest in the 2018 Rajasthan elections as a BJP candidate but the party denied him ticket. 66K people in relief centres in 9 dists As many as 61,666 people have been were sheltered in relief centres in nine districts and 11 lakh food packets have been distributed to the affected people. From Tuesday morning, one lakh milk packets and all other essential commodities have been distributed Chennai airport resumes operations Chennai Airport resumed its operations more than 24 hours after it wound down on Monday due to inundation, heavy rain and gusty wind. A Vistara flight from Mumbai was the first to land at 11.19 am on Tuesday relief for chennai south TN to see rain In a breather for Chennai and north TN, the forecast for the next five days says only light to moderate rains are expected. But a heavy rainfall warning was issued to the ghat region and a few south TN districts No surprises as Revanth gets Major INDIA partners to skip today’s meeting hot seat, to take oath tomorrow Pa r v e z S u lta n @ New Delhi CCTV grab of Karni Sena chief Sukhdev Singh Gogamedi being shot inside his residence | pti AS the death toll due to Cyclone Michaung rose to 17 in Chennai and with many parts of the city and its neighbouring districts facing waterlogging, Chief Minister MK Stalin on Tuesday said the State government is seeking `5,000 crore urgently from the Government of India for immediate relief, rescue and restoration works. He added that the DMK MPs would raise this demand in Parliament too. Addressing reporters later, the CM’s secretary N Muruganandam said the State had sought `5,000 crore from the Centre and asked a central team to be sent to TN to assess the damage caused by the rains. Other Opposition MPs also appealed to the Central government to provide all possible help to the Tamil Nadu government in tackling the situation. The government also announced that schools and colleges will remain closed in the capital, Tiruvallur, Kancheepuram and Chengalpattu on Wednesday as well. The state has also decided to postpone the Chennai Formula Street Circuit Racing events scheduled for December 9 and 10. It’s official. A Revanth Reddy will be sworn in as the next chief minister of Telangana on December 7. The Congress high command announced Revanth’s name following daylong deliberations with the AICC observers and the other two contenders for the post — Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and N Uttam Kumar Reddy . AICC general secretary K C Venugopal said that the AICC observers D K Shivakumar and Telangana in-charge Manikrao Thakre gave a detailed report on their observations about the CLP meeting. “After considering the report, and following discussions, Con- Third youngest CM in undivided Andhra At 54, Revanth will be the second and youngest chief minister of Telangana and the third youngest in undivided Andhra Pradesh. Revanth brought the Congress to power within three years after assuming the reins of TPCC by revitalising the moribund party gress president Mallikarjun Kharge has decided to go with Revanth Reddy, TPCC president, as the new CLP of Telangana,” Venugopal said. He said that the Congress government will be a team and not a one-man show and that the party will give due recognition to seniors. Vikramarka and Uttam had thrown their hats in the CM ring. However, on Tuesday mor ning, party leader Rahul Gandhi called on Kharge at his residence in Delhi to take the final call. Kharge then informed AICC observers that their choice was Revanth. Following this, the AICC observers spoke to Vikramarka and Uttam, assuring them of key positions within the party and the government. Earlier in the day, Uttam said that he was the most eligible to become the chief minister as he was a seventime MLA and a sitting MP, and had worked in the Congress throughout his career as a loyal soldier. He, however, said that he would abide by the high command’s decision. THE meeting of the INDIA bloc scheduled on Wednesday will go ahead as planned, though many alliance partners won’t be attending. Another meeting has been scheduled in the third week of December, in which all the coalition partners are expected to take part. Wednesday’s meet, reportedly scheduled by the Congress without consulting other parties, will take place at the residence of party president Mallikarjun Kharge. Top leaders of opposition parties, including Trinamool Congress (TMC), Samajwadi Party (SP), Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and Janata Dal-United (JDU) will be conspicuous by their absence. However, the alliance partners will meet later this month to discuss the formation of strategy and seat-sharing ar- Leaders will meet on December 17: Lalu RJD president Lalu Prasad said on Tuesday that the top leaders of the INDIA bloc will be meeting on December 17 to chalk out the strategy for the 2024 Lok Sabha polls rangements for the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. In a snub to the Congress for ignoring other INDIA partners during the recent state elections, TMC chief Mamata Banerjee and SP chief Akhilesh Yadav had on Monday ruled out attending Wednesday’s meet. According to JD(U) leaders, Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar is unable to come to Delhi on Wednesday as he is down with fever. His Tamil Nadu counterpart M K Stalin will also skip it as he is busy with cyclone relief measures.