Andhra Pradesh: Incessant rain makes travel a tough task

Vijayawada: Incessant rains induced by a depression in the Bay of Bengal are worrying the residents of Amaravati. A majority of roads in Guntur and Vijayawada are inundated with filthy water due to the poor drainage system and huge gaping manholes are creating panic. Rains, which started on Sunday night, continued throughout the day on Monday and Vijayawada received around 40 mm rain. Low-lying areas in city were flooded making commuting a nightmare for residents of the area.

“Rains have exposed the real face of the city. Drains were choked with plastic waste and in the absence of monitoring from the VMC officials and rainwater flowing along with sewage, it was stinking all around.” said K. Purushottam Kumar, a private employee. “Poor quality road works taken up by engineering wing of R&B and VMC was the main reason for water stagnation on the roads. Officials conveniently forgot about quality during Krishna Pushkaram as they were in a hurry. Despite spending crores on these projects, all of them have collapsed in less than a year. The VMC should at least focus now on inundated roads in city,” said YSRC city president Vellampalli Srinivas.

The VMC has deployed special teams to clear blocked drains and inundated roads in the city. These teams worked throughout the day to facilitate citizens commute smoothly. “The VMC has taken measures to clear blocked drains in the city. We also kept an eye on the spread of mosquitoes in the city which is main cause for the spread of seasonal diseases like viral fevers and flu.  We will prepare an action plan to deal with sanitation related issues,” said VMC chief medical & health officer Gopi Naik.