Andhra Pradesh Minister Ponguru Narayana allays fears of flooding, says 'Amaravati is in safe zone'

Hyderabad: Allaying fears of flooding, Minister for Municipal Administration and Urban Development Ponguru Narayana on Monday made it clear that Amaravathi is in a very safe zone and asked the people not to believe the misinformation being spread by the YSRCP leaders.

The recent floods close to Vijayawada had killed more than 30 persons and inundated majority of the town throwing life out of gear for almost 10 days. In some areas normalcy is yet to be restored. Amidst reports that Amaravati also faced flooding, Narayana clarified Amaravathi is in a safe zone.

"The previous government with certain political motives had resorted to miss propaganda and there is absolutely no problem, whatsoever, for Amaravathi," Narayana told media persons.

The Minister also clarified that the capital city will not face any kind of problems with the floods to the Krishna river.

"To be on the safe side, the State Government is taking up the construction of reservoirs and necessary canals to prevent any kind of floods to Amaravathi in future," he said.

The Minister mentioned that the previous government not only resorted to miss propaganda that Amaravathi is not fit to be the capital but also wrote to the World Bank not to release any kind of funds for the capital.

"Though the Krishna river has received 11.43 lakh cusecs of flood flow Amaravathi is safe and at the time of capital design itself building of reservoirs and canals was proposed," he added.

By the coming rainy season all the proposed three canals spreading in an extent of 48.3 km will be completed as tenders are being called very soon, the Minister informed.

Also, construction of three reservoirs is also being taken up and once these reservoirs and canals are completed not even a single drop of flood water will be blocked in the capital region, he stated.

Buildings are safe

Observing that the construction of the buildings in the capital region taken up during 2014 and 2019 came to a grinding halt, he said that this TDP-led NDA Government has sought the opinion of IIT experts from Hyderabad and Chennai and the report has already been submitted to the Government. Besides the iconic buildings like the State Secretariat, the High Court and the 3,600 apartments being built for the Government employees are safe and these experts felt that the construction of these buildings can be taken up further.

"We are calling for tenders in the coming couple of months for taking up the completion of these buildings," Narayana maintained. Admitting that the jungle clearance works have been stalled due to the floods, he said that this will be completed soon.

The Minister said that the Rs 175 cr to be credited as lease to the farmers who have donated lands for the capital will be credited to their accounts either on Tuesday or latest by Wednesday, he said. Narayana said that if anyone comes forward to give land under land pooling he himself will go to personally receive it.