2 nabbed in sabotage of Prakasam barrage

Vijayawada: Suspecting possible sabotage behind the incident of five boats colliding with the counterweight area of the gates 67, 69 and 70 of the Prakasam barrage on September 1, the state police have arrested two persons Ushadri and Komati Ramamohan. They were produced before the court. The two arrested are said to be followers of former MP Nandigam Suresh and MLC Talasila Raghuram.

The police intensified the investigation into how five boats of which three were heavy boats weighing 40-50 tonnes each collided with the counterweight of the three gates. According to Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu, legal action would be taken against all those who were responsible for the collision.

Speaking to the media at the District Collectorate of Vijayawada on Monday, Ramanaidu said that the barrage serves the water requirements of farmers of Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, and West Godavari districts. The barrage has a long history of nearly 170 years and never did any such incident happen in the past. He felt there is a conspiracy behind five boats hitting the Prakasam barrage.Continued on The Minister said police investigation revealed that these boats were not anchored as per the normal practice and instead three boats were tied to one another with nylon ropes and they got washed away due to heavy flood in River Krishna. They hit another two boats. All five boats drifted towards the barrage gates and hit the counterweight. The damage could have been very severe if these heavy vessels had hit the pillars as the entire Vijayawada and Krishna districts would have been submerged. He said all three boats are painted in YSRCP party colours which adds to the suspicion, Ramanaidu said.

He said farmers also expressed the view that YSRCP sabotaged it. Each boat costs around Rs 50 lakh and no responsible owner would tie them with nylon ropes. “These boats which were on the Guntur side were brought to Gollaprolu which is on the other side just a day ahead of the floods and this further gives credence to our suspicion of sabotage,” the Minister said.

The minister said the repair works of the damaged counterweight were also taken up on a war-footing under the guidance of irrigation expert Kannayya Naidu. He is the one who fixed the Tungabhadra gate while the flood flow was heavy in Karnataka. The government felt that the farmers would lose one crop season.

He said similarly, the irrigation department and army personnel took up plugging the breaches of the Budameru at three places notwithstanding the inclement weather. Now the height of the Budameru bund is being increased to prevent any future damage.

He further said that Budameru had been encroached to a vast extent in the last five years and all that would be cleared soon.