VIJAYAWADA: Overflowing manholes and delay in completion of underground drainage (UGD) works have been the cause of much inconvenience to the residents in various localities of the city. Though monsoon is yet to make its presence felt in a full-fledged manner, the city that was designated as a part of the State capital Amaravati a couple of years ago, has been experiencing rainfall related problems till date.
Just a couple of hours of rain has been rendering the low lying areas inundated and the residents find it difficult to walk or ride on the major and arterial roads, due to the foul smell emanating from the overflow of manholes and drains.
A section of residents have pointed out that the de silting of drains and sewers has not been taking place fast enough in several parts of the city. Clogged drains and sewers not only cause flooding but adversely impact roads, which are ridden with potholes just after a few spells of rain.
‘’It has become a routine affair for the traders and residents on the Eluru Road stretching between SRR and CVR College and Seetharampuram to bear the foul smell emanating from the manholes during the monsoon. Despite several complaints lodged with the civic body officials over the issue, only temporary arrangements of cleaning the sewerage channels are made and no measures have been taken to identify any permanent solution for the problem,” rued K Venkata Raju, who runs a stationary mart near SRR and CVR College.
Apart from overflowing sewage water, the delay in completion of UGD works have been also irking the residents in various parts of the city that include One Town, Bhavanipuram, Milk Project, Urmila Subba Rao Nagar, Panja Centre and Kothapet. “The civic body which is supposed to complete the UGD works before the monsoon had not done it which resulted in the overflowing and stagnation of rain water on roads.
Stagnant sewage is a cause of concern as mosquito breeding will be high during the evenings. At least now, the officials should swing into action and re-carpet the damaged roads that have been dug up for developing UGD connections in our locality,” said M Nagendramma, a resident of Bhavanipuram.
When contacted, VMC in-charge chief engineer JV Ramakrishna said that the civic body has been receiving more complaints from the residents regarding overflow of manholes and clogged drains.
In this regard, special teams have been constituted involving public health department and engineering officials to identify the overflowing manholes which will be cleared at regular intervals during the monsoon for preventing the sewage flow on the roads.
When asked about the delay in completion of UGD works, he maintained that the engineering department officials were asked to submit the details of works completed and pending. So far, the civic body has covered 73,442 houses out of the total 2.6 lakh in 59 divisions of the city, he added.
Propasal for more sewage plants remain on paper
UGD network connects 73,442 houses out of total 2.6 lakh in 59 divisions of the city
VMC maintains sewage treatment plants with a total capacity of 130 MLD at Ajith Singh Nagar, Auto Nagar, Ramalingeswara Nagar, Jakkampudi Colony and Kabela
Proposals were sent to earlier TDP government to establish two more sewage treatment plants with a capacity of 40 MLD. It remained on papers