Budameru Rivulet turns sorrow of Vijayawada city
PN Srinivasa Rao The negligence of concerned departments and illegal encroachments in Budameru rivulet finally led to inundation of several parts of Vijayawada city in flood waters following…
PN Srinivasa Rao
The negligence of concerned departments and illegal encroachments in Budameru rivulet finally led to inundation of several parts of Vijayawada city in flood waters following the rains during the last two days. The flood water severely disrupted the normal life of the citizens of Vijayawada city. The negligence of Budameru affected nearly two lakh people in the city. (velagaleru head regulator)
The rivulet of Budameru turned as sorrow of Vijayawada city due to no regular maintenance with negligence and encroachments. As per the officials the Budameru regulator at Velagaleru is not in a position to release water as per its full capacity due to lack of maintenance for the last several years. Similarly the stilt at water flowing pipes located at Enikepadu is blockage to water flow. The irrigation department has not concentrated on regular maintenance work at important junction points to water flow downstream to Kolleru. Similarly the governments have been neglecting the completion of modernization works including construction of retaining wall to Budameru in city limits. Already people of the outskirts area were inundated several times but the plans to solve the problem have been pending with the government for the last several years.
A proposal has been sent by the Krishna district irrigation department long ago with Rs 483.40 crore budget for modernisation works.
Actually the State government had decided to modernize the Budameru rivulet to save the people of several colonies from inundation. Nearly two lakh people were affected by Budameru floods many times. Similarly, the people of Bhavanipuram, Vidyadarapuram, Singhnagar, Payakapuram, Ayodyanagar, Madhuranagar and Kanakadurga Nagar have been affected by Budameru floods for the past several years.
The important project was initiated in 2007 after submitting the representations to several Chief Ministers by the legislators and political leaders of this area. The 37-kilometer Budameru starts at Velagaleru of Krishna district and it has expanded up to Enikepadu-Ventrapragada down area. The irrigation department had called for tenders several times to finish the work under five packages.
But contractors are reluctant to take up works due to encroachment problems at five- kilometer stretch in city limits. Nearly 3,000 houses were constructed illegally on rivulet bunds. As per tender rules the contractor should provide the land and houses to encroachers as in part of the compensation. All the contractors have refused the offer and nobody has taken the work. The officials finalized the plans to construct the retaining wall in city limits instead of vacating the houses.