By laying the foundation for Kondaveetivagu Flood Water Pumping Scheme (KFWPS) near the Prakasam barrage on Wednesday, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu took a concrete step towards preventing the flooding of 10,000 to 15,000 acres in the capital region of Guntur district by the fierce stream, which came to be known as the Stream of Sorrow.
The Water Resources Department’s idea is to lift 5,000 cusecs of water out of the total flood of 12,000 cusecs, into the upstream of Prakasam barrage with the help of 16 motors and divert the balance to the Krishna western delta through the Krishna left main canal to supply water to tail-end areas.
The project is estimated to cost ₹237 crore at current prices and is to be completed in six months.
The flash floods caused by Kondaveetivagu are so intense that the road links between Vijayawada, Thullur and the temple town of Amaravathi; and between Guntur and Amaravathi get snapped every year during the monsoon.
The Kondaveetivagu, whose catchment area is spread over 453 sq.km. originates from the Kondaveeti hill range at Perecherla in Medikonduru mandal of Guntur district and joins the Krishna upstream of thr Prakasam barrage and the draining starts from Lam.
The lifting scheme has been proposed to utilise a good quantity of the flood water by pumping it into the river as there is no other way to release it.
The KFWPS was conceived by an experts committee formed by the A.P. Capital Region Development Authority in April 2016. The committee was asked to suggest an effective and fail-safe management of floods in Kondaveetivagu and drains flowing into it. The objective was to make the new capital city flood-free even during maximum flooding.
The Chief Minister said that flood control had become very important in the backdrop of Maharashtra and Karnataka stopping river waters flowing into the lower riparian State of Andhra Pradesh.
“While fighting for our rightful share of the Godavari and Krishna rivers, we should conserve water through projects like Polavaram and Pattiseema. This particular project (KFWPS) is very crucial as we are planning to construct a world-class capital city on the banks of the River Krishna”, Mr. Naidu observed.
Ministers Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Prathipati Pulla Rao and Ravela Kishore Babu, Guntur MP Jayadev Galla, Tadikonda MLA T. Sravan Kumar, Mangalagiri municipal chairman G. Chiranjeevi and others were present.
