VIJAYAWADA: Within a decade, Edlanka (also known as Yadlanka), an island village in the Avanigadda constituency, in Krishna district may disappear.
Caught between intensifying river erosion and years of governmental inaction, this Krishna river village is slowly vanishing, a casualty of climate change and human neglect.
Spread over 904 hectares and situated just six metres above sea level, Edlanka island has 250 houses and 850 residents, mostly farmers and fishermen. The village has suffered a decade of river-induced trauma.
The Krishna river has been shifting its course every year, especially during heavy monsoons and cyclones. Already, the village has lost over 10-12 acres of farmland and about a dozen homes. Locals and experts fear the worst is yet to come.
“The river has encroached about 500 metres around the village and advanced 30 metres further inside. Over 50 houses are at risk. If this continues, Edlanka may soon lose its identity,” warned ward member Pemmadi Venkanna, whose own house was among those washed away.
The first major warning came five years ago, when the house of renowned atomic scientist and Padma Shri awardee Myneni Hariprasad Rao collapsed. Since then, erosion has worsened with each passing season. According to Krishna district Mala Mahanadu president Dova Govardhan, unchecked environmental degradation triggered the crisis.
“Between 2011 and 2016, scant rainfall led to dense bush growth in the riverbed. Increased sand mining further blocked the flow. When rains returned, the river diverted toward the village,” he told TNIE. “At this pace, Edlanka might not exist in 10 years. Several families are already leaving the village” he added with anguish.
Climate change has deepened the crisis. Rising temperatures and erratic rainfall have increased flooding. Though the sea lies 20 km away, rising sea levels have turned groundwater salty, evidence of salinity intrusion common to coastal areas. Allegedly illegal sand mining has only made things worse.
Now, even village’s heritage is under threat. The century-old Balakoteswara Swamy and famous Tirupathamma temples stand vulnerable with onset of monsoon.The village’s only link to the mainland, a causeway to the mandal headquarters, Avanigadda, three kilometres away, was damaged during 2017-18 and temporarily repaired by the government. However, it was completely washed away during the 2019 floods. Later, villagers constructed an earthen embankment (bund), but it repeatedly washed away even during moderate rains.
Govardhan alleged that a new bridge, promised by the YSRCP in 2019 at an estimated cost of Rs 8.5 crore, never materialized. “Despite public assurances from the then Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, no work began,” he said.
During the 2024 elections, alliance leaders including Jana Sena chief Pawan Kalyan, MLA candidate Mandali Buddha Prasad, and MP candidate Vallabhaneni Balashouri, pledged to build the bridge. But villagers say there’s still no sign of progress even after a year.
Speaking to TNIE, Avanigadda MLA and former Deputy Speaker Mandali Buddha Prasad said, “We are committed to constructing the Edlanka bridge. Proposals have been sent, but it will take time.”
On erosion, he said the matter is under the Irrigation Department’s purview.
Meanwhile, time and tide wait for no one. With worsening climate and bureaucratic silence, Edlanka’s erosion is no longer a natural calamity alone, it is a human failure to protect a community rooted in history.