Conserve Krishna floodplains: Rajendra

Plan to build Capital there is a disaster, says waterman

Eco warriors: Rajendra Singh addressing the media at Lingayapalem in Guntur district on Saturday. Ekta Parishat president P.V. Rajagopal is seen.

Terming River Krishna as a bonded river, waterman of India and Ramon Magsaysay award winner Rajendra Singh batted for conserving the floodplains to meet the needs of the future generations. Summing up the three-day tour of the floodplains, Mr. Singh said the floodplains, where the proposed Core Capital and the start up area were coming up, were one of the most fertile lands in the country and termed the plan to construct core administrative structures as the “biggest disaster” on the earth.

“No other city in the world has come up on the floodplains of a river and the satellite map provided by the AP government in the Environment Impact Assessment Survey has clearly illustrated that the core Capital is coming up in the floodplains,” he said.

Making it clear that he was not against the construction of Amaravti, Mr. Rajendra Singh said they only wanted the AP government to pay heed to their suggestion to preserve the floodplains and make Amaravati a livable city.

Mr. Singh also came out against the lift irrigation project on the Kondaveedu drain terming it a bad model, where the LI project was located below the level of river.

“Why do you want to tinker with the course of the river? The Kondaveedu drain has a natural outlet emptying itself and the plan to link the flood waters with River Krishna is ecologically disastrous,” he said. Delhi-based conservationist and Emeritus Professor, JNU, Vikram Soni, who brought out a book “Amaravati — A Natural City”, said he had proposed to create a lake or a canal besides the river so that the floodplains were protected. “The floodplains are 30 metres deep which is far lesser than the Himalayan floodplains which are 100 metres deep and hence we need to preserve them. Instead, the AP government is promoting rampant sand mining. The sand aquifer in river Krishna is very old and has been sustaining the agriculture in the delta region,” said Professor Soni.

Ekta Parishat president P.V. Rajagopal and Rashtriya Swabhiman Andolan chairman Basavaraj Patil also spoke.