Vijayawada: The breach-filling works of Budameru rivulet have been speeded up with the arrival of the Army at Shanthinagar in Kondapalli on Friday with a view to saving Vijayawada from floods.
Two previous breaches had been plugged temporarily in recent days. With up to 50,000 cusecs of floodwater gushing into Vijayawada through a third breach, again marooning Singh Nagar and its surroundings, army help was sought.
Chief minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu did an aerial survey to acquaint himself with the situation in Shanthinagar. He flew over the Budameru embankment areas and examined the areas through which Budameru’s water is flowing down and merges into Kolleru Lake.
Naidu surveyed the illegally occupied areas along the Budameru and took stock of the ongoing works to fill the trenches. He noticed the condition of the villages around the Kolleru Lake and the flow of water through the Krishna river below the Prakasam barrage.
He flew over the Hamsaladeevi area where the Krishna water merges into the sea and the Krishnalanka areas too.
At the Budameru breach, the Indian Army’s HADR operations column has been engaged in strenuous work to stop the leak.
The first two breaches, each ranging from 10-15 metres in width, were temporarily plugged by the civil administration. This temporary measure led to a funnelling effect, increasing the water flow significantly at the third breach site, which spans approximately 80-100 metres. The water current at this location reached between 6-8 knots, with fears it might escalate to 10-12 knots.
To counter this, the Army team is at work to employ a robust two-layer strategy using Gabion baskets, each measuring 5x2x2 metres. These baskets will be stacked atop one another and filled with stones to fortify the breach.
Following the placement of these baskets, a protective bund reaching up to 4 metres in height will be constructed. This will be followed by necessary earthwork to support the outer side of the baskets.
The fabrication of these baskets was underway on Friday, using local resources at the site, for their immediate deployment. Trials will also include the use of HESCO baskets filled with sandbags to evaluate their effectiveness.
