Is the flood in Vijayawada a man-made tragedy?

Budameru, one of the major canals in Andhra Pradesh, has been at the center of a heated political debate following floods and inundation in several residential areas of Vijayawada.

A war of words has erupted between the Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu and the former YS Jagan Mohan Reddy, with both blaming each other for the flooding of areas such as Ajithsingh Nagar, Payakapuram, YSR Colony, and others.

Despite the ongoing political slugfest, it is clear that flooding in residential areas is a man-made tragedy rather than a natural fury.

Successive governments have not paid attention to the Budameru issue. The negligence of the Water Resources Department (WRD) only worsened the situation.

First of all, the head regulator built in Velagaleru in the channel is not well maintained. The gates are barely functional. And there are many violations in the channel. Plans to increase the capacity of the Budameru Diversion Channel (BDC) to 10,000 cusecs are still on paper.

More than 60,000 cusecs of flood reached Budameru from Khammam in Telangana due to heavy rains in just four days.

The government has not done any work to modernize the channel or remove the noise. Moreover, the WRD has not taken any steps to resolve these violations.

The water level in the Prakasam Barrage should not be more than 12 feet if the flood from Budameru joins the Krishna river.

But the flood water that reached the barrage was higher. More than 11.50 lakh cusecs were discharged into the sea because the Krishna is in its spate and flows at a higher level than the Budameru. As a result, the flood in Budameru did not join the river and flowed into residential areas such as Jakkampudi, Ajithsingh Nagar, Vambay Colony, and Milk Factory.

Secondly, a proposal worth ₹500 crore for the modernization of Budameru made during the TDP period during 2014-19 was not implemented.

The canal passes through Bhavanipurm, Vidyadharapuram, Ayodhya Nagar, Madhura Nagar, and Kanaka Durga Colony, and parallels the Eluru Canal.

Due to the demand for housing plots, the land adjacent to the canal is occupied illegally. The parties in power have turned a blind eye to these violations.

Third, WRD, Pemkot and other government agencies have not worked together. Also, the WRD officials, apparently, failed to take the right decision and manage the massive flood that reached Budameru.

WRD officials have reportedly lifted gates at Velagaleru to prevent flooding near VTPS and other nearby areas. However, he allegedly did not alert the civic authorities in Vijayawada. As a result, the flood from Budameru flooded many settlements. There is little scope for evacuating people from low-lying areas.

The channel starts near Mylavaram. Pulivagu, Bhimavagu, Loyavagu, in G. Kondur mandal, and some other streams on Vissannapeta route, Tiruvur joins Budameru. The channel passes through Gudavalli, Gannavaram, Bapulapadu, Gudivada and Nandivada and other places before joining Kolleru Lake.

The maximum capacity of the channel is 11,000 cusecs. To regulate the flow, a head regulator was constructed at Velagaleru in G. Konduru mandal in 1970. The WRD was used to regulate the floods there.

Then Budameru Diversion Channel (BDC) was built. The aim is to divert more water to the Krishna at Pavitrasangamam, near Ibrahimpatnam. The VTPS also discharges wastewater into the river through the BDC.

In 2005, about 70,000 cusecs of flood water was recorded in Budameru. Political parties then fought for the victims in Vijayawada.

In order to avoid flooding in the city, it is felt that the modernization of the canal and increasing its capacity is necessary. Later, the right canal of Polavaram joined with Budameru to connect Polavaram and Krishna.

While the Polavaram canal was designed to handle 37,500 cusecs, its current capacity is only 8,500 cusecs.

For the past 8 years, the water from Pattiseema has joined the Krishna through this canal. The capacity of BDC should be increased to 10,000 cusecs.