Shame rains down on GVMC

VISAKHAPATNAM: At a time when the 'City of Destiny' is gunning for the 'smart city' tag, the drowning of six-year-old Ch Sai Lavanya Aditi in an open storm water drainage canal at VS Krishna College Road in HB Colony on Thursday evening has left Vizagites raining fire on the authorities concerned, including the Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC).
"The GVMC officials as well as the general public should be aware of the spots along the drainage channel where accidents are most likely to happen. The corporation should put up an iron mesh or grate all along the open canals to prevent such incidents in the future," said Praja Spandana president CS Rao.
Coming down heavily on GVMC, CPM district secretary K Lokanadham said, "The incident was entirely the fault of the civic officials. Most of them respond to grievances late. I had also informed GVMC about several civic issues but they have not acted upon them as yet."
Prof GVR Srinivasa Rao from the civil engineering department of Andhra University said, "The condition of the city's drainage system is very poor. There are several reasons for it including people throwing solid waste into the canals and non-completion of the underground drainage system. The existing underground drainage system in some localities such as MVP Colony is very old and should have been upgraded."
Meanwhile, a senior police officer from the One Town police station, who participated in the search operation, said, "The GVMC and district administration should have provided rapid response tool kits such as gum boots, torches and mini cranes to those involved in the rescue operations. The civic workers also responded to the situation late. We had to take up the operation with the help of dragon lights."
Another AU professor from the same department, Prof S Bala Prasad, who specializes in public health engineering, said, "The present drainage system is completely unscientific. A scientific approach such as implementation of best management practices for storm water drains (BMPSW) can prevent such incidents. Chandigarh was the first city in India to start implementing BMPSW."
"The system's main objective is to enhance the ground water table recharge and reduce the inundation by rain water. Some of the key components of the system include gutter elimination, storm water planters, tree box filters, rain harvesting pits, infiltration trenches, grassed swales, vegetated roofs, soil amendments, sand and organic filters," Prof Bala Prasad said.
When contacted, GVMC's engineering department officials said the city has 4,000-km-long drainage canal network, including 2,400 km of rainwater canals along the roads and 300 km of storm water canals. Nearly 70% of the rain water canals (medium sized canals with a minimum 2-feet width) are open.
Responding to the tragedy, municipal administration and urban development minister P Narayana said steps would be taken to prevent such incidents in the future. "I have instructed GVMC commissioner Pravin Kumar to cover all open canals with an iron grate on a priority basis. The work will begin soon," he said.
Meanwhile, the GVMC chief said, "We will identify such bottlenecks and danger points in the city and take the necessary safety measures to prevent such incidents in the future. This apart, we will also complete the underground drainage system at a cost of Rs 400 crore in the core city area by connecting nearly 25,000 households within the next two months.