Changing Vijayawada into Venice

K.Srivalli, a student of Architecture and who grew up in Vijayawada and Guntur, has come up with the first comprehensive canal development plan. K.Srivalli, is a student of Vignan, Guntur.

Garbage accumulated in Bandar canal at Yanamalakuduru following the release of water from Prakasam barrage in Vijayawada. Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar.

A former Mayor often spoke about the potential of turning Vijayawada into a place as beautiful as Venice, the city of bridges. A candidate for the Lok Sabha elections promised that he would change Vijayawada into Venice by cleaning up the canals and its banks.

But a student of Architecture who grew up in Vijayawada and Guntur has come up with the first comprehensive canal development plan. K.Srivalli, is a student of Vignan, Guntur.

She did her B.Arch at the Jawaharlal Nehru University of Architecture and Fine Arts (JNUAFA) and a Masters programme in Urban and Regional Planning from Mysore University.

Her treatise on Vijayawada Canal Front Development won a national award given by the Institute of Town Planning. Krishna district Ministers Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Kamineni Srinivas and Kollu Ravindra were also greatly impressed by a power-point presentation given by Ms Srivalli at a review meeting on Sunday.

The daughter of Vijayawada Irrigation Circle Superintending Engineer K.Srinivasa Rao, she did the treatise for her Masters programme. “I took up the subject for the treatise because I want the city to improve and not because my father works for the Irrigation Department,” she told The Hindu .

The primary requisite for the success of the canal front development project was putting a stop to the pollution of the canals, she says. Municipal sewage is being dumped directly into the three canals that transact the city at several points.

She says that a start could be made with the Krishna Eastern Main Canal that extends from Krishna barrage to Tummalapalli Kalakshetram parallel to Canal Road. It could be developed for navigational recreation.

There is a heavy influx of pilgrims and tourists during Dasara festival and many are ready to pay for a boat ride. The canal should be developed in such a way that the tourists are attracted, she said.

Based on her study, the Irrigation Department prepared a canal development project at an estimated cost of Rs 137 crore.

Out of it, Rs 135 crore is needed for lining of the canals and construction of side walls. Another Rs 2.4 crore was required for developing walking tracks.