PCB team visits Mudasarlova

To submit report on adverse impact of location of colonies near reservoir

A team from the AP Pollution Control Board (APPCB) visited the Mudasarlova Reservoir here and collected soil samples to study the possible adverse impact of construction of residential colonies close to the reservoir.

The team, headed by Joint Chief Environmental Scientist K.V. Ramani from the Hyderabad Head Office, made the study during the past three days. Joint Chief Environmental Engineer K.V. Rao, Senior Environmental Engineer K. Ramesh and Environmental Engineer K. Ravi Kumar, all from Visakhapatnam, were the other members of the team.

PIL filed

Some displaced persons of Srirampuram village, whose lands were acquired for the BRTS project, and Visakhapatnam Port Trust (VPT), which parted with its land, were allotted 6.8 acres and 7.8 acres land respectively. The total land given was close to the Mudasorlova Reservoir and a Public Interest Litigation (PIL) was filed in the High Court that the sewage water from the proposed residential colonies could contaminate the water in the reservoir.

The court gave interim orders directing the APPCB to submit a report before the next hearing on October 28.

“The land allotted to the residential colonies is about 2 km away from the reservoir. We have collected samples and made a study on the possible impact to the reservoir from the new colonies as also the possible obstruction to the flow of water from the hills as the entire area would be levelled for construction of the colonies,” Mr Ravi Kumar told

The Hindu on Monday.

The possibility of seepage and flow of sewage water into the reservoir was also studied by the team.