ACTING TOUGH: Huts were removed from Krishna riverbed at Bhramarambapuram in Vijayawada on Friday. - Photo: Ch. Vijaya Bhaskar

VIJAYAWADA: Thatched and semi-permanent houses that were inundated by the flood in the Krishna at Bhramarambapuram were removed by officials of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation on Friday.

Though owners initially resisted the move, they acceded to the pleas of the officials and joined hands with them in executing the task effectively. They were provided with alternative house sites at Vambay Colony in Singhnagar and Payakapuram. The houses had to be removed for they were built in the riverbed adjoining the bund. Whenever there was a heavy flood in the Krishna, these houses submerged under water.

During a recent survey, officials of the VMC identified 829 houses located on the riverbed, slope of the river bund and also on the bund. Of them, 629 houses had to be removed from the area, as they were weakening the bund.

Mild tension

After convening a series of meetings with residents and announcing compensation and alternative house sites, officials launched the three-day drive on Friday morning. However, mild tension prevailed when the vehicles of `encroachments removal squad' of the VMC reached Bhramarambapuram. Some residents were reluctant to leave the place, while others refused to go to Vambay Colony. Evacuation began only after the police descended on the area.

"I spent Rs. 30,000 on this house. How can I allow them to demolish it?" asked Somu Venkata Swami, a rickshaw-puller. This 60-year-old man had been residing in the house for the last three decades. "The police lathi has silenced me," Swami said, while packing his furniture.

Mini-lorries of the VMC were busy making rounds between Bhramarambapuram and Vambay Colony, shifting people and their belongings.

"The officials said that house sites would be given at Vambay Colony. Instead, can't they give pattas here itself?" asked Gundepogu Nagaratnam, a cobbler. She said that her relatives in Vambay Colony advised her not to go there, as snake menace was rampant there. She was, however, left with no option but to go there as an official supervising the drive announced that she would be the next one to board the mini-lorry.

`Paltry compensation'

"The compensation is anything between Rs. 1,000 and Rs. 3,000, based on the construction. It is too small an amount to build a house in a new place," said Tadivalasa Nageswara Rao, a barber.

Officials, however, said that the alternative house sites and compensation was decided only after convening meetings with the residents. "There will not be any change in the drive. We will complete the demolition of all the 629 houses in three days and erect a fence on the river bund. Plans are afoot to develop greenery along the bund slope," said D. Venkata Ratnam, city planner of the VMC.

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