Relief after Laila weakens, toll 23

Cyclone Laila weakened into a “well marked low pressure area” over north coastal Andhra Pradesh on Friday, and can now trigger heavy rain in Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam districts besides Khammam and Warangal in Telangana region.

The chief secretary, Mr S.V. Prasad, told this newspaper that Laila no longer posed any danger to the state. “The overall situation is under control,” he said.

However, the Indian Meteorological Department did not rule out the possibility of Laila remerging in the northern Bay of Bengal on May 24. The state government put the death toll relating to the cyclone at 23 including a family of four in Vijayawada who were killed after a wall fell on them. Heavy rains and winds also damaged 11,351 hectares of horticulture crops.

With the storm dissipating, most of the 71,000 people who had been evacuated by the government started moving back to their homes.

The Chief Minister, Mr K. Rosaiah, will undertake an aerial survey of cyclone-hit areas in Prakasam, Guntur and Krishna districts. He is also likely to hold review meetings with officials at Vijayawada’s Gannavaram airport.

Mr Rosaiah spoke with collectors of coastal districts on Friday and asked them to continue to stay on high alert and focus on relief and providing medical assistance in the affected areas.

He asked them to begin assessment of actual damage once the rains recede. “Except for horticulture the damage is very low and it is unlikely that the Centre will send teams to assess the damage,” a senior official said. The state is, meanwhile, preparing a report on the cyclone damage to get relief from the Centre.

AP police gun down Maoist husband-wife duo

Police in Andhra Pradesh on Friday killed a Maoist husband-wife duo in a gun battle in a forested area in Khammam district.

Police said the Maoists, belonging to the outlawed Communist Party of India-Maoist, were killed in a gun battle in the Venkatapuram forest area in Khammam, about 300 km from here.

The gunfight took place when policemen engaged in combing operations in the area came face-to-face with a group of Maoists. Police found two bodies after the exchange of fire, which lasted an hour.

The Maoists have been identified as K. Pullaiah and his wife Lakshmi, both members of an armed squad of the CPI-Maoist. Police also recovered two weapons, two kit bags and party literature.

Police were on alert in the area as several prominent politicians are scheduled to visit Bhadrachalam on the occasion of Ramanavmi on March 24. The combing operations were launched last Thursday after Maoists gunned down a trader on the suspicion he was acting as a police spy.

The gun battle took place a week after the killing of two top Maoist leaders in two different incidents on March 12.

Shakhamuri Appa Rao, a member of the CPI-Maoist, was killed in Prakasam district while Solipeta Kondal Reddy, another top leader, was shot dead in Warangal district.