The Hindu : Front Page : Overflowing drain forces people to vacate houses in Deverapalli

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Saturday, Nov 04, 2006
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Overflowing drain forces people to vacate houses in Deverapalli

K.N. Murali Sankar

High tide resisting Lajjabanda, say villagers

RAIN FURY: A farmer swims along the submerged bunds at Mudinepalli in Krishna district on Friday. Photo: Raju.V

DEVARAPALLI (Krishna dist.): Residents of this tiny hamlet near Machilipatnam have been vacating their houses one after the other with overflowing water from Lajjabanda drain inundating the place slowly.

By Friday afternoon, the village was caught in waist-deep water. The drain from Guduru joins the sea in Manginapudi, 7 km from this hamlet. With canals from Movva, Kodali and Gudlavalleru villages joining the drain, Lajjabanda began to overflow.

Relief camp

The villagers say the high tide in the sea is resisting the drain water from joining it.

A few brave families, which remained in the hamlet, too began vacating their houses. But, where to go?

This question dogged them, as the lone relief camp opened by the district administration in Munjuluru primary school, 3 km away from the hamlet, was already jam-packed.

"Our first priority is to send them to a safe place. Providing food and water is secondary now," said Jogi Subrahmanyam, sarpanch of Pulampadu village panchayat - Deverapalli is a hamlet of this village -- in Pedana mandal. A population of about 1,600 was residing in the village and the hamlet together and a majority of them left for safer destinations.

Overflowing of water from Lajjabanda drain began on Sunday and water stagnated at a height of three feet all over the village by Wednesday. "There is a steady increase in water level from Wednesday onwards. If the flow continues to be like this, our village will be completely submerged," said Mr. Subrahmanyam.

He held the irrigation department responsible for the situation, as the drain was not repaired last summer. .

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