Rain paralyses life in Bhimavaram

A main road in Bhimavaram turned into a huge pool of floodwater in view of heavy rains lashing the town in the last three days. Photo: A.V.G. Prasad

Most of the residential colonies in low-lying areas in Bhimavaram remained water-logged for the last three days for want of proper storm water management system in the town. The Housing Board Colony is under knee-deep water.

Collector Siddharth Jain, who visited the colony on Thursday, instructed Bhimavaram Municipal Commissioner G.V.N.S. Murthy to engage motors to drain out the floodwater from the colony on a war-footing. Mr. Jain told the Commissioner to take urgent measures to prevent outbreak of health disorders in the town in view of poor sanitation. The residents of the colony told the Collector they were finding it difficult to move in and out of their houses through the knee-deep water.

Same was the situation in the other low-lying areas such as Indiramma Colony, Narsaiah Agraharam, Mentevarithota and Durgapuram. The municipal authorities were constrained to close all the outfall drains to avoid the flow of waters from the Y. Drain in a reverse direction. Heavy inflows from the Yarrakalva upstream the Y-Drain made the outfall drains ineffective.

The Municipal Commissioner told

The Hindu that the municipality was planning to replace the narrow and outdated drainage channels with earthen pipelines with funds from the Thirteenth Finance Commission.