(Pics in NICA by Mr. Raju. Copied on October 11)
Last week’s heavy rain in the city put citizens to hardship. Though normal life was not affected much, its aftermath resulting in inundation of major and interior roads for hours has become a major cause of concern.
Even after several roads were elevated a couple of feet above normal level to avoid inundation, the problem persisted, keeping municipal officials on their toes every time it pours. The blame is always on the municipal corporation which fails to maintain proper drainage system that could effectively drain the stormwater irrespective of the amount of rainfall. However, the root of the problem is the age-old practice of the citizens and negligent municipal staff who dump garbage, including plastic, into the drains. Ironically, most of the stormwater drains in the city have been left uncovered, providing making it convenient for everyone to dump garbage.
The civic body has identified huge dumps of plastic waste and silt in the drains as the major problem causing inundation of roads even after a moderate rainfall.
The waste, including plastic covers, bottles, glass and other hard material that adds to silt blocks the flow of water in the drains and also makes it tough for the civic body to extract it later. With no other equipment or manpower being able to remove the waste, the civic body engaged earthmovers to clear the drains. In some areas, culverts had to be demolished and widened to clear the piled up garbage in the drains.
“In many areas, commercial complexes dump huge quantity of plastic and other material in the drains. This is happening since decades, and the only solution is to completely cover the drains,” said a sanitation inspector. Meanwhile, there are many other roads that do not have any roadside drains to let out rainwater.
Apart from the garbage problem, encroachment of drains by commercial complexes, shops and other properties has prevented the civic body officials from cleaning them. The problem is very much evident with the ongoing stormwater drain project which almost came to a halt due to sewage-filled open drains and encroachments over them.
Political support
Civic officials trying to remove encroachments by commercial complexes often come under the pressure from local legislators and corporators. “Removing encroachments is a major problem in the city. People take advantage and build permanent ramps over the drains which make it impossible for sanitation staff to clean them. If we try to remove the encroachments, encroachers come up with recommendations of local leaders,” said an engineer working for the storm water drain project.
In fact, to avoid such pressures, engineers and planning officials are allegedly passing the buck while marking sites for construction of new drains under stormwater drain project. On the other hand, there are roads that are still yearning for a proper drainage system.
Apart from the flooding of roads, the city faces threat from the Budameru rivulet which could badly impact about 17 municipal divisions in case of flooding. Many areas close to the rivulet are flooded when the inflow of water is high in the rainy season. However, flooding only occurs when the inflow of rainwater is huge from the upstream area and rainfall near Vijayawada city has no contribution.
For info graphic:
Rainfall in city between Oct 1 and 12
Total rainfall received in city from July 1 to Oct. 12
Actual rainfall 662.1
Normal rainfall 777.3
Deviation -14.8
