VIJAYAWADA: Due to heavy rain since Monday midnight, roads were flooded and several drains overflowed in the three administrative circles of the city paralaysing normal life. Commuters on several major roads such as Pinnamaneni Polyclinic Road, Jammichettu Centre, Shunabbattila Centre, Krishna Lanka, Maruthi Nagar, One Town, Vidyadharapuram and Kabela Centre faced a harrowing time while wading through knee-deep water on the roads. Expressing their ire, a section of residents urged the civic body to focus on improving basic amenities and ensure the completion of ongoing Storm Water Drain (SWD) project.
“Despite making several appeals to the civic body about the water-logging problem on roads in Moghalrajpuram and other areas, no concrete measures were taken to address the problem,” said Bathina Ramu, a shopkeeper on this stretch.
“Every time, flood water mixed with sewage enters my shop during monsoon. Though the drainage system is developed under Storm Water Drain project, the authorities concerned failed to provide a proper channel for outflow. Focus should be laid in addressing the issue in view of public health,” Ramu appealed.
The public residing in several low-lying areas including KT Road, Panja Centre, Kothapeta, Auto Nagar, LBS Nagar, Kandrika, Rotary Nagar and other localities faced tough time as drain water entered their houses.
Speaking to TNIE, VMC chief engineer D Mariyanna said that the civic body has formulated an action plan to prevent flooding of low-lying areas during monsoon. As part of it, the executing firm of Storm Water Drain project has designed proposals for constructing culverts in the low-lying areas where drains are constructed to divert the drain water into the three channels flowing on the outskirts of the city. Works in this regard will commence soon, he said.
When asked about the status of the SWD project, the CE informed that the construction company has completed 253-km drain works of the actual 444-km length of drains. The company has recently estimated that the project will most likely be completed by March 2022.