Andhra Pradesh

Widening of Upputeru favoured

ELURU: The Rytanga Samakhya has urged the government to keep in abeyance implementation of the Kolleru Integrated Management Plan (KIMP) drafted by the Wetland International, a Delhi-based agency, as it reportedly did not pay any attention to finding a lasting solution to the problem of submergence of farm fields in and around the lake for want of a safe outlet at the mouth of Upputeru, the gateway to the sea.

“Even as the lake is receiving large quantities of floodwater during rainy season through several rivers and drainage channels, Upputeru is failing to empty the floodwaters from the lake into the sea.

This necessitates widening of its mouth on a war-footing,” said Yerneni Nagendranadh, president of the samakhya in a petition submitted to Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.

The agency, in its report, highlighted the need to maintain the characteristic of the lake as a natural balancing reservoir by not interfering with the natural formation of Upputeru and not undertaking work to channel the lake, which was one of the recommendations of the Mitra Committee, the petition said.

“The width of the creek at its mouth is enough to carry only 11,500 cusecs of water into the sea. Thus, it will take more than 10 days to empty 1 lakh cusecs of inflows the lake receives during rainy season,” he said.

With the creek failing to be an effective outlet for the lake, the water level was going up to 7-10 ft in the lake, inundating villages and fields in the bed and belt villages, the peasant leader said. He felt that the mouth of Upputeru should be widened to help discharge at least 20,000 cusecs of water from the lake.

“The lake will receive more floodwater after modernisation as all the rivers and channels feeding the lake will improve their carrying capacity manifold, posing more threat of floods to people in the vicinity,” he said.

© Copyright 2000 - 2009 The Hindu