VIJAYAWADA: The officials of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) appear to have been caught napping by their own boss in the matter of clearing choked drains ahead of monsoon. Though the South-West monsoon has set over AP and there have been intermittent spells of rain in Vijayawada, the clearing of drains, which was supposed to have been done before May-end, has not yet been done.
Several drains in the city are full of silt and many of them have ramps constructed over them. There are encroachments over the drains in several places and all these factors have hampered the flow of water in the drains.
When VMC Commissioner G Veerapandian went round the city on Tuesday morning, following a slight drizzle, he was appalled to see the drains on either side of the roads in important locations full of silt and ramps built over them.
An apparently upset Commissioner asked the officials to get cracking immediately and desilt the drains. He cautioned them that otherwise several areas in the city would turn into ponds/lakes if there was a downpour.
Vijayawada already enjoys the notoriety of a city which fills up fast in case of a downpour, in particularly the areas such as Suryaraopet, Machavaram, Kabela, One Town Fish Market and Wynchpet. The drizzle on Tuesday morning soaked the city, exposing its vulnerability to rain. Several places in the city became slushy, making it difficult for the people to walk around.
During his visit, Veerapandian found that the nalas were in a deplorable state from DV Mana to Bandar Canal, at Mother Teresa Junction, at Autonagar Gunta Tippa Canal, at Pulleti Canal and Gunadala.
The Commissioner found that at Pinnamaneni Polyclinic, drain water movement was sluggish in a 30-metre ‘katcha’ drain and that the drain water had spilled over to the main road. He wanted the officials to immediately get round to the work of desiliting the drain. He found water logging at four places near Benz Circle and asked the officials to make temporary arrangements for draining the water into the drains. He also wanted silt removed from a drain near Modern Super Market near the Benz Circle.
