November 2025

If you are a lorry and you are trying to gain entry into Prakasam First Lane (off Prakasam Street) in T. Nagar, you have no choice but to stop dead in your tracks. A metal barricade, reportedly installed in year 2000 to check movement of water-carrying tankers through the lane, is the first resident on the scene, quiet but highly efficient, to greet you. A massive CMWSSB tank overlooks this lane; and it is studded in what is a water-filling point. Residents are proud of this metallic guard. urther down the lane, another barricade, a naturally occurring one, stands and it can would also stop tall, heavy vehicles. But residents are not proud of this one; in fact, vary of it. It is a raintree, visibly old, and it is leaning precariously. A habitue of the road, one who has his professional stomping ground there, points out that it keeps bowing down earthward from year to year (inch by inch), as evidenced by the fact that it is now touching a pipe on a house (new number 14). When complaints are made to the Corporation, they are inclined to only trimming the branches of the tree, but not uprooting it out of the landscape.

The minister visited Ankepalli and Rajupalem villages in Marripudi mandal of Kondapi constituency to inspect fields where pearl millet crops were damaged by the cyclone: Reports TIRUPATI: Social welfare minister Dr Dola Sri Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy on Friday assured that every farmer who suffered crop loss due to Cyclone Montha would receive full support and compensation from the government. The minister visited Ankepalli and Rajupalem villages in Marripudi mandal of Kondapi constituency to inspect fields where pearl millet crops were damaged by the cyclone. He interacted with local farmers and officials to assess the extent of agricultural loss. Speaking to the media, Swamy said that unprecedented rainfall triggered by Cyclone Montha had severely impacted agriculture across Prakasam district. Crops such as pearl millet, maize, cotton, groundnut, chilli, paddy, green gram and tobacco cultivated over 2,300 hectares were damaged. He said that enumeration of losses was underway and promised that every affected farmer would be compensated. The minister added that estimates for repairing roads damaged by the cyclone were being prepared and that reconstruction work would commence soon after assessments were completed. He commended district officials for ensuring there was no loss of life or major property damage during the storm. Swamy credited Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, Deputy Chief Minister Pawan Kalyan and minister Nara Lokesh for closely monitoring relief operations. He said the Chief Minister’s continuous supervision through teleconferences and the coordination via the RTGS system ensured effective disaster management. He also appreciated sanitation workers for their dedication despite adverse conditions, adding that residents from cyclone-affected areas were safely shifted to rehabilitation centres and provided with essential supplies. Kanigiri RDO Keshavardhan Reddy, agriculture department officials and local mandal officers accompanied the minister during the visit.