Repair to Prakasam Barrage Traffic diversion takes place

Vijayawada: As part of repair works to 150-year-old Prakasam Barrage, the water resources department is taking up replacement of ‘seour vents’ from April 18. The works will take around one month time to complete and traffic on the Barrage will be stopped for entire tenure. The seour vents are crucial in removing silt at Barrage crust gates.

Highlights:

• Traffic will be stopped for one month from April 17
• Seour vents to be replaced
  

Water resource department has taken up works with cost of Rs 204 crore and they have begun last year. The department completed replacement of 70 crust gates and replacement of seour vents and apron works have been taken up this year.
The seour vents will be fixed below the level of crust gates in order to flush out the silt that forms during the flood to River Krishna. There are 14 vents under the crust gates, of which six are at the side of Vijayawada and eight are at the side of Seethanagaram of Guntur district.

Krishna Delta chief engineer Y S Sudhakar told The Hans India that the traffic will be prevented on Barrage during the replacement work of seour vents from April 17 to May 18 as the works would be started from April 19 and heavy machinery would be used in the works.

Even though, the department started replacement works last year, the works had to be stopped due to avoid traffic chaos during Krishna Pushkaralu in the city.Moreover, a sixty-year-old generator, which was being used to operate crust gates, will also be replaced. The open electric wiring system at the barrage also be removed in view of increased tourists rush to Barrage after the state government is promoting water boat tourism at the place.

The WRD has taken up modernisation works of apron of Barrage in 2016 but it was not completed. The department is also working with target to complete the works this season. Repairs are being done to 800 concrete frictions blocks of one kilometre long apron to take burnt of hydraulic jump of flood water.