VIJAYAWADA: Aimed at doing away with water-logging and flood like situation in the city, Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) has drafted a plan to tackle the civic issues, which are likely to arise during monsoon. As part of the plans, the civic body has accorded top priority to desilting of drains, rivulets and canals and drains in different parts of the city. Almost a fortnight ago, a special drive was launched to desilt major drains and clear garbage channels before the monsoon.
The civic body has identified 16 inundation spots in three administrative circles, including Moghalrajpuram, Jammi Chettu Centre, Pinnamaneni Polyclinic Road, Nirmala Convent Junction, Panja Centre, KT Road (One Town), Nizam Gate, Railway underpass bridges near Kaleswara Rao Market and Rajiv Gandhi Park, NTR Circle, APIIC Colony, Visalandhra Road, Ajith Singh Nagar, LBS Nagar, Prasanth Nagar and Tikkle Road.
VMC CE M Prabhakar said that the city has a length of 1,302.6 km drainage network. Out of which 57.6-km are major drains and the remaining 1,245 km are medium and minor drains. Despite the Covid-19, the civic body has carried out special drives in various parts of Vijayawada to desilt the clogged drains as part of the pre-monsoon preparedness.
The VMC has formed monsoon emergency teams in three administrative circles—mobile monsoon, mini-mobile monsoon, zonal emergency and static labour teams. The teams would be equipped with vehicles, crowbars, dewatering pumps, tree cutters, generators and other safety equipment. Moreover, static labour teams would be deployed at water-logging points to clear any flooding immediately and ensure that there are no traffic jams, he said. The public can report grievances pertaining to water-logging through WhatsApp number 81819-60909.
