For the first time in the district in more than a decade, two tanks — Devuni Cheruvu at Kandi and Mallepally tank — breached in the wee hours of Sunday.
According to sources, the bund of the tank breached between Mallepally and Charlagopularam at about 1 a.m. cutting off the road connecting the two villages.
Villagers alleged gross negligence of officials that led to the breach. They had lodged a complaint with the district authorities way back in November 2010 stating that the construction of the culvert at the tank disturbed the full tank level (FTL) and resulted in submergence of standing crops.
This was confirmed by the Irrigation department officials who inspected the tank and submitted a report in December same year suggesting changes to maintain the standard FTL.
“The HP culvert constructed to cross the Pedda Cheruvu at Malkapur village by the R&B department has disturbed the FTL of IB tank and causing damage to it as well as submerging standing crops,” read the report submitted on December 6, 2010, by the officials of the Irrigation department.
“We have made repeated appeals to the officials to address the issue but no action was taken so far in the name of law and order problem as some locals are opposing any alteration to the structure. But now, it has damaged crops and the tank breached,” P. Ravinder Reddy, one of the villagers, told The Hindu.
Meanwhile, MLA T. Jayaprakash Reddy visited the village and assured justice to villagers.
The Devuni Cheruvu at Kandi mandal headquarters breached and water reached the low lying areas. The water has also reached NH 65 and as a result, traffic came to a standstill.
