Soil expert Vikran for protection of floodplains

Vijayawada: Prof Vikram Soni underlined the need for protection of floodplains to preserve the water and protection of environment. He said destroying the nature is not good for the humanity and felt everyone should try to protect the environment. 

He participated in  a meetign on ‘Need for nature protection’ at MBVK Bhavan on Sunday. Eminent environmentalists participated in the meeting, which discussed the need for protection of environment to check climate change.

Prof Vikram Soni said our forefathers used to drink river water which was equal to mineral water as the water flows from the hills and mountains and the water gains the mineral and medicine values. Now the same water is sold for Rs 50 per litre, he regretted.

He said floodplains should be protected at any cost to sustain the ground water levels. He said that in the north Indian states, the floodplain size was about 100 metres and in southern states, it is in the size of between 30 and 50 metres.

He said if water is stored in floodplains, farmers can cultivate three crops a year. By destroying the floodplains, water cannot be stored, he added. If the floodplains are destroyed, rain water passes away. He expressed concern over the destruction of floodplains for construction of capital Amaravati.

Social worker Anumolu Gandhi said that environmentalists from across the country had given a plan for the construction of sustainable capital city at Amaravati which was thrown into the bin by the TDP government.

He said that the government was pooling good agriculture lands in the name of development and handing over to Singapore company. He said that nearly 15 lakh acres land was pooled across the state destroying flood plains which are main source of cultivation, he alleged.

He said that none of the irrigation projects taken up by the government were successful. He pointed out Kondaveedu Vagu project was a flop project. He blamed the government for allowing sand mining in the River Krishna. He alleged that sand mining was the reason for the boat mishap at Ibrahimpatnam where the boat driver lost control due to whirlpool in the river where 22 boat passengers died.  

He said that the government was planning to spend Rs 2,000 crore for the construction of reservoir near Vykuntapuram as cultivated lands would be submerged. He said that indiscriminate sand mining would destroy the ecology in many mandals of Krishna and Guntur districts. 

Former minister Vadde Sobhanadriswara Rao, ‘Water man of India’ Rajendra Singh, Romi Kosla, Raj Gopal, Babu Rao and B Satyanarayana spoke on the occasion.