The Bhadradri Prantha Parirakshana Samithi has decided to launch a signature campaign in Bhadrachalam and its surrounding villages soon to mobilise public opinion to mount pressure on the Central government for concrete steps to prevent the Polavaram project’s potential backwater-induced flood risk and its possible effects on Telangana's historical temple town Bhadrachalam and its adjoining areas.
A decision to this effect was taken at a meeting organised by the Samithi in Bhadrachalam on Friday.
In a statement, Samithi president B Shankar Reddy said the meeting charted out a programme to organise a fortnight long signature campaign in Bhadrachalam, Burgampahad, Nagineniprolu Reddypalem, Sarapaka, Mothe and Iravendi villages demanding construction of a flood bank (karakatta) to prevent the risk of submergence.
The Centre should immediately order a survey in these areas facing potential risk of submergence during flood events due to the backwater effects of the Polavaram project under construction in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh, he said, demanding compensation to people inhabiting these areas under the Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) package, he demanded.
The meeting has passed resolutions demanding strengthening of the flood protection mechanism in Bhadrachalam town, merger of the Parnashala inter-State highway stretch into Telangana, declaration of the entire Polavaram submergence zone as Union Territory and extending the railway line from Pandurangapuram to Sarapaka.
