A view of the havoc caused by the heavy rains and flooding, in 2021.
| Photo Credit: Special arrangement
The temple city of Tirupati might have escaped the wrath of the current depression by a whisker, but the deep scar left behind by the 2021 floods continues to haunt the citizens.
The city always witnesses monsoon showers during October-November season, but the heavy downpour of never-before scale three years back made the official predictions go haywire.
The monsoon showers of 2021 brought the entire city to a standstill as most parts of the city got submerged and remained under a sheet of water for a week.
The city suffered a three-pronged attack, with the water flowing down the Tirumala hills through the Malavadigundam waterfalls inundating the city’s northern region encompassing Kapila Theertham and Alipiri. Similarly, the breach developed to the Peruru tank’s bund wreaked havoc on the western areas such as Ullipatteda and Upparapalle, besides submerging buildings in Sri Padmavati Mahila Viswa Vidyalayam (SPMVV) campus.
On the third front, the washing away of a gate in Kalyani dam sent the stored water gushing into Swarnamukhi river, which submerged the southern areas such as Tiruchanur, Mullapudi, Tanapalle, Chiguruwada.
Topping it all, the chinks developed to the bund of the mammoth Rayala Cheruvu tank, located 15 km away, sent shivers down the spine of the residents in the newly-sprouted colonies south of Tirupati. It is another matter that the entire district machinery, including political leaders, moved to the waterbody and got the leakage plugged.
Unkept promises
However, the assurances made to solve the scores of problems on a permanent footing remain unaddressed even today.
For example, Tanapalle Road, Pudi Road and Rayala Cheruvu Road, which provide connectivity to the two dozen villages down south, got washed away due to the flash floods. However, no serious effort was taken to relay the damaged roads and the motorists are forced to use a pothole-ridden temporary diversion for the last three years.
Meanwhile, the Municipal Corporation of Tirupati (MCT) Commissioner N. Mourya has instructed the field staff of the Engineering and Sanitary Departments to ensure that the sewer lines carried the flood water out of the city, without inundating the low-lying areas.
Published – October 17, 2024 03:29 pm IST
