While Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu is eager to clear encroachments in Budameru following unprecedented floods that stuck the Vijayawada city recently, the officials said to be realized that it will be difficult to clear encroachments in the present form and proposing to bring it under the purview of the River Conservative Act.
Due to Budameru floods as many as 32 divisions flooded in Vijayawada city, affecting over 1.5 lakh people. It was mostly due to over one third of the area being under encroachments. While there are 202 acres under its jurisdiction, 70 acres have been encroached upon. Now it became a major challenge before Chandrababu Naidu’s government on how to clear these encroachments?
According to the provisions of the River Conservation Act, no construction or cultivation of any kind is allowed in the river bed. It is only possible to catch fish. In this context, the Department of Water Resources has brought to the attention of the government that this law will be useful for the removal of encroachments in Budameru and to prevent encroachments in the future.
However, it may not be possible to bring it under this act as of now as Budameru is recognized only as a large stream by the Water Resources Department. In this background, the department is conducting a survey on the feasibility of making it as a sub-river to the river Krishna.
As part of this, the officials conducted a survey on the issue of how much of the annual water flow from the Budameru catchment area is being diverted to the Krishna river. Budameru flows for 8.9 kilometers in Vijayawada city limits. Its width should be minimum 90 meters and maximum 180 meters.
About 3000 illegal constructions were found in it. In addition to this there are some other structures on the middle bank. The AP Government first announced that it will bring a special law for the removal of Budameru encroachments on the lines of HYDRA which was brought in Hyderabad for the removal of pond encroachments.
However, it is looking towards alternatives as the problems that arise in the process of evicting thousands of families will become a headache. Budameru flows from between houses in Vijayawada city. To divert this, the government is bringing forward proposals to extend the Gollapudi lifting scheme canal and snake canal in Jakkampudi up to 30 meters.
The government is also considering building a retaining wall to avoid flooding in Vijayawada city. Reports are being prepared on embankment strengthening and channelisation. For many years there have been proposals to channelize the Kolleru lake up to Uptateru and build a regulator there and connect it to the sea. This is also being considered by the government.