Stream of sorrow to be waterway

GUNTUR: The ‘stream of sorrow’ Kondaveeti Vagu will turn into a waterway for new capital Amaravati. New plans were prepared to utilize the stream as a waterway for the transportation of ships in the Amaravati and for water recreation/amusements. A new canal will be constructed to divert the flood waters of the stream into the Krishna river from Lam Farm to Vykuntha-puram and supply water to the stream through gravity during dry phases to ensure water supply throughout the year in the Kondaveeti vagu.

As much as 15,000 cusecs of water would flow in the Kondaveeti vagu during the time of floods and heavy rains. The stream had been narrowed in many areas obstructing the free flow of water.  APCRDA appointed a committee with ten expe-rts who studied the stream and proposals and suggested appropriate measures. The Amaravati Develop-ment Corporation prepared a new plan following the suggestions of experts and submitted them to AP CM N. Chandrababu Naidu, for final approval.

Kondaveeti Vagu stops the transportation betw-een Guntur (the old Amaravati) and Vijaya-wada Tullur (the old Amaravati) due to overflowing of the stream in various areas. A new canal would be constructed from Lam Fam to Vykunthapuram on the banks of the Krishna river to divert the floodwater into the river. The stream would be widened by increasing the water flowing capacity to 22,650 cusecs from the present 15,000 cusecs. The bed level of the stream would be increased to 120 meters from the present 30 meters. As much as 5,600 cusecs of flood water would go into the Krishna river, 5,000 cusecs would be released into Buckingham canal and another 5,000 cusecs would be pumped into Krishna river at Undavalli through lift motors near Prakasam Barrage.

 A new barrage was proposed on the Krishna river at Vykunthapuram with 5-7 TMC ft of water storage capacity, so the Kondaveeti Vagu floodwater would help storage of the water in the reservoir. During dry periods, water from the new Barrage would be released into the stream for the transportation of ships linking to Buckin-gham canal national waterway-4. Retired engineer I.S. Raju, member of the expert committee, said that water pumping into the Krishna river through motors and a new canal is a good way to avoid inundation during floods. The officials said that they are expecting final clearance and tenders would be called for Kondaveeti Vagu works in two phases.