Andhra Pradesh: Potharaju canal causes misery again as rainwater floods colonies in Ongole

Modernisation of the canal up to a width of 120 feet at a cost of ₹80 crore, though proposed in 2015, has been going on at a snail’s pace

Unsuspecting Srinivasa Rao, a school teacher residing in Venkateswara Nagar, was having dinner along with his wife and children when incessant rain triggered floods in the colonies close to the Potharaju canal, considered the ‘sorrow of Ongole’, in no time on October 4.

The entire family was busy frantically bailing out the rainwater that threatened to damage electrical appliances and other household articles. There was no let-up in their vigil all night as the sky, which opened up, brought copious rain continuously for more than 12 hours.

So was the plight of more than 2,000 people in 12 municipal wards of the city who live close to the canal the modernisation of which has been going on at a snail’s pace for various reasons.

“We live in constant fear of flooding,” a group of residents complains as the city gets maximum rainfall during the northeast monsoon.

The proposal to modernise the Potharaju canal with a width of 120 ft at a cost of ₹80 crore was mooted in 2015.

The project to widen the canal could not be taken up for a width of even 33 ft at most places for reasons such as rampant encroachment of the ‘poramboke’ lands on the southern and northern side of the canal, sources in the Irrigation Department said.