Municipal Corporation of Tirupati begins works to check inundation of vulnerable areas

Tirupati: The tragic death of Karnataka woman pilgrim Sandhya, who died after the vehicle in which she was coming with her family to Tirumala drowned in the floodwaters at Rail under Bridge (RuB) near West Church in the city on Saturday, stirred the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) which began works on war foot basis to check inundation of low-lying areas in the city.

Municipal Commissioner P S Girisha along with engineering officials and area Corporator Ramaswamy Venkatesh on Sunday made a three-hour long inspection of various localities including the RuB where the tragic incident took place, West Railway Station, SV University Vice Chancellor Bungalow, SV Campus School on the upper reaches of RuB and also SV Nagar near the RuB.

On his instructions, the engineering official swung into action and put up an iron mesh replacing the retaining wall on the major drain passing from RuB to Royal Nagar to ensure speedy discharge of rainwater so as to check waterlogging at RuB. The Commissioner directed the officials to take required steps at all places prone to water logging, to see the areas become free from inundation during heavy rains.

At the RuB, the Commissioner and engineering staff thoroughly studied drains and also the areas on the upper reaches of the under bridges from where water flowing towards RuB to find out the ways to ensure smooth flow of rain water to prevent any inundation under the bridge for safety.

He suggested several measures including desilting of drains, repairs to manholes, strengthening the retaining walls on the upper reaches to be taken up immediately as part of safety measures at RuB.

The Commissioner also directed his officials to survey and study all the areas prone to inundation and identify the encroachments of drains in the city for removing them for the free flow of drains.

Municipal Engineer Chandrasekhar Reddy, Divisional Engineer Ravindra Reddy, Sanitary Supervisor Chenchain were among the officials in the inspection.

It may be noted here that the tragic incident of the death of a pilgrim triggered severe criticism from various sections including social activists, political leaders and residents indicting the civic authorities for their failure to ensure safety at RuB which apparently forced the Corporation to respond immediately for taking up measures to check inundation of low-lying areas in the city.