Businesses in Vijayawada remain open despite Cyclone Montha advisory

Vijayawada: Notwithstanding the district administration's advisory to close commercial establishments and suspend regular business operations in view of Cyclone Montha's potential impact on Vijayawada city on Tuesday, several commercial establishments were seen continuing their businesses as usual in Vijayawada and its suburban areas, ignoring the instructions.

In the aftermath of Cyclone Montha intensifying into a super cyclonic storm, the district administration forecast 16 centimetres of rainfall for Vijayawada city on Tuesday and instructed business owners to close down their establishments as a precautionary measure.


Private establishments, including shopping malls and jewellery showrooms along MG (Bandar) Road, Karl Marx (Eluru) Road, along with Besant Road and Governor Peta, operated their businesses as usual as the city did not witness any significant cyclone impact till Tuesday evening.

Gloomy weather prevailed throughout the day with strong winds along with intermittent rains till Tuesday evening in the city. Thereafter, the wind speeds coupled with rainfall lashed the city as the cyclone system approached near to the coast before commencing the landfall process.

Meanwhile, officials closed down the showrooms and stalls opened on Besant Road on Tuesday afternoon. Further, the shopping malls and showrooms which were opened on MG Road and Karl Marx Road closed down their businesses by 7 pm on Tuesday owing to the high-velocity winds and the imminent rainfall threat.

"Since we didn't receive any communication from the district administration on the closure of shops, we opened our shop and are doing our regular business. They (administration) warned of heavy rainfall for the day, but there has been no major rainfall activity in the city as predicted by the weatherman. Also, we cannot afford to shut our businesses because of the cyclonic storm as we pay huge sums of rental amount on a monthly basis," Ramulu, who runs a Pan outlet near Help Hospitals in the city, said.