Srikakulam: Villagers still waiting for high-level bridge

Meliaputti (Srikakulam): The residents of the three remote villages, Gokarnapuram, Chinna Hamsa and Mojjadapeta in Meliaputti mandal are restricted to their homes for most of the monsoon as these villages are surrounded by floodwater. Every year it become a cause of concern for these villagers.

Radha Sagaram, a rivulet originated in Odisha, enters Meliaputti mandal then passing through Palasa and Vajrapukotturu mandals and merged into the Bay of Bengal at Nuvvalarevu village in Vajrapukotturu mandal.

Most of the monsoon season floodwater of Radha Sagaram surrounds Gokarnapuram, Chinna Hamsa and Mojjadapeta in Meliaputti mandal. These three villages come under Gokarnapuram gram panchayat.

In 1994, then MLA Kalamata Mohan Rao of Pathapatnam Assembly constituency worked hard to get sanction low level causeway but now it is of no use as the floods flow above 12 feet height over the causeway.

In 2016, a high-level bridge was proposed with an estimated cost of Rs 90 lakh by then MLA Kalamata Venkata Ramana, son of former MLA Kalamata Mohan Rao, but it was not sanction. In 2019, YSRCP candidate Reddy Shanthi was elected as MLA. In the same year a person Yavvari Srinivasa Rao was washed away in the floods, she visited the area and assured to sanction funds for construction of high-level bridge but it is of no use as the people of these villages are still waiting for the sanctioning of the bridge. Gokarnapuram sarpanch S Ravi Kumar laments that they gave several representations for the allocation of the funds for high level bridge.