VIJAYAWADA: A minor landslide took place adjacent to Gandhi Hill in One Town on Monday. However, no one sustained injuries. Taking a serious note of the incidents reported in the gap of two days, the public residing in the hillocks are appealing the officials concerned to undertake necessary steps to prevent the occurrence of such incidents in the future.
Minor landslides in various parts of the city have created panic among the residents. This is the third time during this monsoon season that such an incident was reported. A couple of days ago, passengers travelling in an auto-rickshaw near Chitti Nagar tunnel had a miraculous escape when a minor landslide occurred on a nearby hillock.
‘’Following the rains lashing the city during the monsoon, boulders of different sizes rolled down on the houses constructed on the hillocks. It has become a routine affair for the people’s representatives and officials to visit the hillocks if any untoward incident is reported. As of today, no concrete measures have been taken by the authorities to find a solution for the perennial problem,” rued N Venkateswaramma, a resident of Dalavayi Street, One Town.
Another resident, N Praveen Raju said that a few days ago, Endowments Minister Vellampalli Srinivas Rao and VMC Commissioner V Prasanna Venkatesh visited his locality and assured that a retaining wall would be constructed to prevent the boulders from rolling down. “The duo asked us to shift to rehabilitation centres during the monsoon.
I appeal to the YSRC government to improve infrastructure on the hillocks and evolve steps to construct retaining walls at the vulnerable hillocks across the city,” he said.VMC Chief Engineer in-charge JV Rama Krishna said in a coordination meeting chaired by municipal chief V Prasanna Venkatesh had ordered the executive engineers of three administrative circles of the city to identify vulnerable localities on the hillocks.