The inundation of residential colonies in western Tirupati during the recent rains has triggered a debate among the public as well as the political parties that whether it was a natural calamity or a man-made disaster. The issue assumed significance with politicians of Tirupati and Chandragiri locking horns over the damage caused to the former due to water bodies located in the latter.
The release of water from the Peruru tank yet again late on Thursday triggered a panic among the villagers, who blocked the highway around midnight. The police had to intervene and resort to a mild lathi-charge, injuring a woman in the melee. The YSRCP was caught on the backfoot over the unexpected incident.
The rumour that made rounds was that water was deliberately released from the Peruru tank to save Thummalagunta, the native village of the local legislator Chevireddy Bhaskar Reddy, who refuted the allegation. With the villagers and the political leaders demanding an explanation, Mr. Reddy took an all-party delegation comprising Tirupati MLA B. Karunakar Reddy, Congress leader P. Naveen Kumar Reddy, BJP spokespersons G. Bhanuprakash Reddy and S. Srinivas, Left party leader K. Kumar Reddy and others to the Peruru, Pathakalva and Thummalagunta areas to explain that the inundation of Tirupati had nothing to do with the release of water from the Peruru tank.
The natural course of flow is such that the excess water from Peruru tank flows through Nalanda Nagar, Sri Padmavathi Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV) campus, SV Dairy Farm to reach the nonexistent ‘Pedda Cheruvu’, over which the Sub-Collector’s Office, Tirupati rural and urban Tahsildar’s offices and police parade ground stand today.
Similarly, water from the western side of Tirumala hills also flow through SV Agricultural College and SV Veterinary University to reach the same spot. Mr. Bhaskar Reddy showed old village maps to prove that water had always flowed naturally to this spot to buttress his claim that it was not man-made.
The MLA insisted that the much-smaller Thummalagunta tank was at a level lower than Peruru and Tirupati, and hence would never cause flooding of the upper reaches.
However, the flooding is attributed by all to the rampant encroachment of water bodies and supply channels over the last few decades and the inaction on the part of the powers that be.
