Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu said on September 4 (Wednesday) that the State government would work out a permanent solution to prevent flooding of Vijayawada and its surrounding areas by the Budameru rivulet, which was to be largely blamed for the current disaster.
Budameru could accommodate only 11,000 cusecs of floodwater, but a staggering 70,000 cusecs coming out of it caused inundation of several colonies in the city. The Krishna waters aggravated the situation.
Encroachments
Encroachments of the Budameru rivulet and a major blockage of the route through which it drains into the Kolleru Lake triggered the massive flood, he said. The extent of encroachments would be surveyed and action taken in the due course, he added.
Addressing the mediapersons at the Collectorate here, Mr. Naidu said, about 11.43 lakh cusecs of water was released from the Prakasam Barrage (which was designed for a maximum of 11.90 lakh cusecs) as a record 37 centimeters of rainfall pounded the city, and a further spell of heavy rain would have brought a disaster of unimaginable scale.
He said Budameru draws water from streams that originate at Reddigudem, Gangineni, Munagapadu, Madhavaram and Gaddamadugu, and as its path to Kolleru, in which Yarravagu also joins, was constricted, the unprecedented flood happened.
Mr. Naidu said attempts to repair and expand Budameru in the 1970s, and a subsequent plan to divert it into the Polavaram Right Main Canal during floods had failed, and that the regulator at Velagaleru was too small a structure to withstand such flood fury.
‘YSRCP govt. diverted funds’
The YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) Government had diverted about ₹500 crore that was available for taking up the Budameru flood containment works. But unmindful of it, Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy and a handful of his party leaders were making baseless allegations against the coalition government.
Mr. Naidu said the flood relief measures gained momentum, and expressed confidence that normalcy would be restored in a day or two.
Relief measures
The government could distribute food to 91% of the seven lakh people who were affected by the floods, and one of the three breaches to Budameru were plugged.
A fresh 7-mm rainfall in its catchment area on September 4 caused jitters as it was expected to yield 5,000 to 8,000 cusecs. The officials were put on alert, while the exact reason for the flood was being analysed by the Water Resources Department and the Vassar Labs.
More than 100 fire engines were being deployed to clean up the marooned houses, and drinking water was being supplied through 182 tankers. Six lakh food packets, 8,50,000 water bottles and three lakh litres of milk were distributed on the day.
The Medical & Health Department was asked to take steps to prevent the outbreak of diseases, keeping in view the likely presence of dead bodies in water, and officials were told to undertake scientific disposal of animal carcasses.
From September 5 (Thursday), the government would set up outlets where vegetables would be sold at fixed prices and distribute other essential commodities, Mr. Naidu said.
Published - September 04, 2024 07:56 pm IST
