Rain continues to batter Tirumala forcing dam gates to be opened

Hyderabad, Nov 23: Tirumala continued to receive heavy rains inundating several places including the open space before the main temple. Meanwhile, with all the dams overflowing, irrigation officials of Tirupati Tirumala Devasthanams (TTD) were forced to open the gates of dams including Kumara Dhara, Papavinasanam, Pasupu Dhara, Gogarbam and Aakasaganga. In view of heavy rains, TTD officials appealed to devotees that they not bring the aged and small children to Tirumala until the weather improves. In Visakhapatnam, Met officials predicted that Andhra Pradesh is expected to receive more rains in the next 48 hours due to the formation of a trough over southwest Bay of Bengal off Sri Lanka coast. The Met officials predicted that heavy downpour could occur at Nellore, Prakasham, Chittoor, Kadapa, Anantapur and Kurnool districts.