A solution to the One Town storm water/drainage seems to be unending if the undue delay in obtaining permission from the Railways was any indication.
The Railways is yet to accord its permission for the box culvert and drains that are planned in the One Town area inundated in the recent flood. It has asked the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) to deposit Rs.10.79 crore to take up the box culvert works near Gandhi Hill outfall drain.
The VMC has asked the Railways to reconsider waiving the deposit amount in view of public interest and the Railways did not air its decision so far.
The new outfall drain is mooted in view of heavy load on Nizam Gate and Gandhi Hill outfall drains, which were constructed during the British rule. These outfall drains were not sufficient for flushing out the storm water swiftly. It may be recalled that these drains were choked in 2009 leading to inundation of One Town area. It is one of the components of modernisation of drainage system in the One Town area.
Major delay
There is a significant delay in the project ever since it was conceived after 2009 incident. The Railways has informed the VMC that it would construct the proposed drain if the requisite amount was deposited with it. The VMC estimates were around Rs.4 crore against Rs.10.79 crore of the Railways.
Earlier, the VMC planned to execute the works through a firm that can constructs the culverts under railway tracks using trench-less technology. It even zeroed in on Pune-based Ghani Constructions Limited (GCL) as it is stated to have taken up similar tasks in Mumbai and Hyderabad.
The VMC also expressed its willingness to deposit requisite amount with the Railways if the latter was interested in taking up the construction of drain on its own.
The Railways, subsequently, asked to deposit the amount. Thereafter there is no progress and the VMC officials were waiting for positive response on the deposit amount.
