Gales lash Guntur villages, normal life thrown out of gear

Guntur: Sudden

gales

crippled normal life in several villages across Vinukonda, Savalyapuram and Nuzendla mandals on Saturday evening. The gales, accompanied with heavy winds, lasted for nearly two hours, uprooting many

trees

and electric poles in different areas of the region.

Several trees were felled on Guntur-Kurnool road where traffic came to a grinding halt. Many vehicles were stranded on both sides of the

highway

for around four hours and people, especially women on board buses were panic-stricken as they remained stuck there till late at night. The officials concerned reached the spot following the alert calls made by the

passengers

.

After the gales receded, local police and other officials from various field departments undertook the rescue operation. The local inspector of police Koteswara Rao, SIs Suresh, Pattabhi and Charan called in some daily wagers to remove the trees, which were felled on the highway.

The officials of Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (SPDCL) swung into action to replace the damaged electric poles and restore the power supply in all the villages by midnight.

Senior officials, including superintending engineer Jayabharath Rao and Srinivasa Murthy, monitored the situation till the power supply was restored in all the villages.

APSRTC officials reached the spot to assist the passengers who got stuck in buses for long. They deployed additional workers to remove the trees obstructing the movement of vehicles. RTC depot manager Hanumantha Rao, tehsildar V Koteswara Rao Naik, deputy tehsildar K Pullarao inspected the traffic restoration work.