VIJAYAWADA: The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) is planning to develop a mechanism to tackle the natural calamities in the city effectively. The project will be executed by Aga Khan Foundation under PPP mode in partnership with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) to alert the officials about untimely rains to facilitate the evacuation of people living on hillocks.
According to the VMC officials, Vijayawada is spread over 61.88 square km area and divided into 59 divisions. It experiences extreme heat during the summer months and when it rains, roads get inundated every year. Since 2014, the population has seen a rapid boom following the city being designated as part of the State capital Amaravati. With this, encroachments on hillocks and canal bunds have doubled.
In all, the hillocks are spread across 160 acres and nearly 2.5 lakh people reside in about 65,251 houses. The incidents of landslide on the hillocks during monsoon have been disrupting normal life on a yearly basis. Taking a serious note of the issue, Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner V Prasanna Venkatesh has come up with a concept of improving the drainage system on the hillocks and take a plantation drive to minimise mudslides in the area.
The civic body has decided to take the assistance of Mumbai-based Tata Energy Research Institute and conduct a comprehensive survey taking the geographical conditions of the city into consideration. A team of representatives from the institute will conduct a survey soon and draft a detailed report for materialising a project to reduce loss during natural calamities, officials said.
When contacted, VMC Chief Engineer In-charge JV Ramakrishna said that representatives of UNDP gave a powerpoint presentation on the baseline report to VMC chief regarding the nature of disasters reported in the city over the years. Besides, the VMC has decided to strengthen the disaster alertness system in the city and sought Aga Khan Foundation to restudy the project and develop coordination with VMC Control Room.