VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Water Resources Nimmala Rama Naidu squarely blamed the previous dispensation headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for the Budameru deluge.
Speaking to mediapersons on Saturday, he said the lack of maintenance and non-removal of weeds in Budameru had resulted in three breaches that led to the deluge. “For the sins of the previous YSRC regime, we are facing the punishment for no fault of our own,” he observed. The minister said the torrential rains were unprecedented and the flood flow in the Krishna river is a record since the Prakasam Barrage was constructed.
“In this hour of crisis, we have a leader who is experienced in handling crisis and protecting the people. Chandrababu Naidu’s experience in disaster management during the Hudhud Cyclone and other natural calamities has come as a great help during this Vijayawada floods,” he said.
Elaborating on the reasons for the flash flood, he said due to lack of maintenance during the previous regime, the discharge capacity of the rivulet has shrunken to less than 1,500 cusecs. Breach to Budameru at Shantinagar will be plugged at the earliest, he assured.
“There are two reasons for the present crisis. One is the neglect of successive governments in modernising (widening) the Budameru Diversion Channel meant for regulating floods and the other reason is encroachments of the flood banks and flood planes. Today, with all those encroachments, the exit for the flood water has become very narrow. For that reason, the draining of the flood water will take more time,” observed an expert.