New government should focus on revival of water bodies in Visakhapatnam, say environmentalists

New government should focus on revival of water bodies in Visakhapatnam, say environmentalists

At a time when the top leaders of YSRCP and Telugu Desam Party have announced their plans to make Visakhapatnam as the ‘Executive Capital’ and ‘Financial Capital’ of Andhra Pradesh respectively, public representatives, environmentalists among others, on the other hand, are suggesting that the city’s natural water resources should be protected to get the status. They felt that whoever becomes the Chief Minister, after announcement of the elections’ results on June 4, should first focus on water resources on a priority basis.

According to Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation (GVMC) data, there are 218 water bodies (tanks/ponds/lakes) in the city. About 60 of them have been encroached and 30 of them turned extinct. While accepting the facts, the environmentalists said that more than 80% of the tanks should be renovated on an urgent basis.

At present, a few water bodies can be found in the city, which were once natural tanks, ponds and lakes full of water every season, due to its geographical conditions with the surrounding hills and the Eastern Ghats passing through the city, and also normal climatic conditions. “Now, the situation has completely changed,” said Greater Visakha Citizens’ Forum vice- president Sohan Hatangadi.

Giving an example of the condition at Yendada along the old stretch of NH-16, Mr. Hatangadi said, “Once, the Yendada pond was as big as three football fields combined, and water was available throughout the year due to the water flowing in from the catchment area of Kambalakonda hills, next to the pond. Gradually, the size of the pond decreased and people started dumping garbage there. Even though the authorities have developed the pond, it still looks like a sinking tank. However, some ponds on the outskirts of the city are still vibrant with full of water all the days.”

L. Subbaraju, Secretary of Sai Oak Dale Apartment Welfare Association, PM Palem, said that since the ponds are sinking due to the concrete jungles in the city, apartment dwellers should devise water conservation practices to recharge groundwater in an environment- friendly manner. “We have proved it by installing an advanced water harvesting recharge system for our borewells. In this way, we tap the rainwater and scientifically pump it to the ground without running out to the sewerage drains,” Mr. Raju said.

Andhra University Environmental Sciences Prof. T. Byragi Reddy said, “Water bodies or wetlands help to store rainwater and keep the water table high in fast developing urban areas like Visakhapatnam. If the water bodies are not in healthy position, they can cause water scarcity in the surrounding areas in addition to adversely affecting the biodiversity. I recently went to Dallas (US) where I saw a mechanism to protect water resources. Not a single drop of rainwater goes to drain, and instaed goes to nearby natural water sources like lakes. We are missing such technologies here. It is everyone’s collective responsibility, particularly the government authorities should take immediate steps to protect the water resources of the city.”

Speaking to The Hindu, GVMC Commissioner C.M. Saikanth Varma said “We are now in the process of developing 10 tanks in the city. Three of them will be completed soon. We are planning to develop 15 more tanks in the next phase for which we are planning to use some funds on urban flood mitigation measures in the city. Yes, there are encroachments of ponds, and we have identified them and are also taking action. There are a total of 218 tanks in the city, of which 151 require some form of renovation.”