The Vijayawada Municipal Corporation has begun the annual exercise of desilting seven major outfall drains in the city by using machines, ahead of the onset of monsoon.
“Special teams have been formed to clear blockages in the medium drains. While the teams are regularly cleaning minor drains, we urge the public to ease the workers’ burden by not throwing plastic and other solid waste into the drains,” VMC Commissioner Swapnil Dinkar Pundkar said.
He added that the desilting work would be over before the onset of monsoon. He said VMC is proposing new drains in areas where the geography doesn’t permit easy disposal of stormwater.
On Saturday, May 18, Mr Pundkar inspected several areas in the city, including the K.L. Rao outfall drain, CVR flyover, Anjaneya Vaagu Centre, and Bandar Road. He instructed sanitation personnel to intensify their cleaning efforts and malaria-control authorities to commence anti-larvae activities immediately.
After a gruelling summer month in April, people in Vijayawada had just begun to enjoy the overcast sky and rain when another recurring problem came back to the fore.
However, only after one day of intermittent rain in the city on Friday, May 17, and earlier on May 10, the roads in the low-lying areas were left under a sheet of water.
With the India Meteorological Department (IMD) forecasting an above-normal rainfall for the State, people in the city worry that they may have to brace for more inundation of roads as completion of the stormwater drain project remains unfinished.
