VIJAYAWADA: With heavy rains lashing the district for the last three days, water level in river Krishna near Prakasam Barrage has been increasing steadily. As of Saturday, while inflows to the barrage stood at 1.31 lakh cusecs, the discharge rate was close to 1.20 lakh cusecs. Pamula Lanka and Thotavalluru were inundated and the locals are using boats to commute.
Pamula Lanka has a population of 1,500 and is surrounded by nine lanka villages. The majority of them are dependent on agriculture for their livelihood. Usually, the villagers use a temporary road laid in the river bed and during the monsoon they use country boats. With this, the villagers have arranged a boat on their own for commuting.
Pamula Lanka and Thotavalluru residents demanded that a bridge should be constructed between the two villages. Though `30 crore funds were allocated for the construction of the bridge during the previous government, the works are yet to commence.
One of the villagers, G Balakoteswara Rao, said that tenders were finalised for the construction of the bridge between Pamula Lanka and Thotavalluru. The task entrusted firm has collected soil samples in the village. On several occasions, the matter was taken to the notice of local MLA K Anil Kumar but there were no concrete measures taken up for materialising the bridge works. Steps should be taken by the government to expedite the works at the earliest considering the plight of the villagers, he said.
Another villager, B Nagaraju, said that over the years the villagers are facing a tough time to commute during monsoon. Apart from agriculture, several villagers are also employed in Vijayawada and other surroundings. To reach their workplaces, the villagers are risking their lives and crossing the river.