Vijayawada, Jul 28 (IANS): Vehicular traffic between Hyderabad and Vijayawada came to a halt on Friday due to flooding of the highway.

Flood waters from Munneru river flooded the National Highway 65 at Itavaram near Nandigama in NTR district.

Vehicles heading for Vijayawada from Hyderabad were being diverted at Kodad in Telangana.

Officials said the traffic was being routed through Huzurnagar and Miryalguda.

The diversion has led to massive traffic jams up to a distance of five kilometers on Kodad-Huzurnagar road.

Munneru river in Khammam district is in spate since Thursday and heavy flow downstream has led to inundation of the key national highway in NTR district.

The highway was also flooded at the Keesara tollgate in Krishna district of Andhra Pradesh.

In view of this, the Telangana State Road Transport Corporation (TSRTC) has suspended its services between Hyderabad and Vijayawada on the national highway.

TSRTC Managing Director V. C. Sajjanar said the buses were being operated through alternate route via Miryalguda, Piduguralla and Guntur.

Buses on this route will be operated with a frequency of every 30 minutes.

People travelling by TSRTC and Andhra State Road Transport Corporation (APSRTC) buses were stranded for hours on Thursday evening.

Initially, police tried to regulate traffic on one side of the four-way highway, but had to suspend the movement of vehicles completely as both the roads were submerged.