Andhra Pradesh - Ongole   

Officials move to solve inundation problem

Special Correspondent

Municipal, irrigation staff make joint inspection of ‘Pothuraju kalava’

STOCK-TAKING: Municipal and irrigation officials inspecting Pothuraju kalava in Ongole on Tuesday.

ONGOLE: Municipal and irrigation officials made a joint inspection of ‘Pothuraju kalava’ on Tuesday and discussed the repairs to be carried out to avoid inundation of Ongole town during rainy season.

The ‘kalava’ acts as the main drainage channel to discharge both sewage water and storm water during rainy season from the town to the sea. It originates from Pernamitta, flows on the northern side of Ongole town, runs over nine km to empty into Nallavagu which finally joins the sea 15 km downstream.

As Ongole town is situated in hilly terrain, rain water from the town literally runs to the ‘kalava’. So the town never faced the problem of inundation till two decades ago. But people encroached upon the bed of the ‘kalava’ for raising fodder crops so much that the bed width was reduced from 800 meters to just 100 meters making the drain choke near Karavadi donka.

Even as the drain lost its discharging capacity, several slums sprang up on its margins from St Theresa school to Karavadi donka aggravating the problem during rainy season. Whenever it rained heavily, the drain took 10-15 days to discharge the water. The slums are inundated in four to five feet water necessitating shifting of 10,000 people to relief centres. The poor discharge also affects drainage in the town and leads to water-logging of several areas.

The problem was felt more acutely during August and again during October-November last year when the town received heavy rain fall. Following a representation made by Ongole MLA B. Sreenivasa Reddy, Collector K. Devanand asked municipal and irrigation officials to study the problem and report on measures to be taken to solve it.

The officials felt it necessary to reclaim the land from those cultivating fodder crops, desilt the drain and strengthen the bunds to revive the discharge capacity of the drain at an estimated cost of Rs. 1 crore. The Panchayat Raj Department is constructing a bridge to replace the low-level causeway near Karavadi donka.

Municipal engineers also felt the need to solve drainage problem posed by four-lane highway.

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