Residents of flood-prone areas in Bhadrachalam under the aegis of the CPI(M) town committee staged a dharna in front of the sub-Collector’s office here on Tuesday demanding concrete measures to fortify the flood protection mechanism in Bhadrachalam.
The dharna was organised in continuation of the padayatras in flood-prone areas by the CPI(M) cadres to highlight the urgent need for flood protection measures in and around the temple town to save it from the ‘potential threat’ of ‘submergence’ from the backwaters of the Polavaram project in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh.
The demonstrators squatted outside the sub-Collector’s office and displayed banners to press for their charter of demands. The demands include raising the height of the karakatta (flood bank) along the Godavari in the temple town and extending it up to Nellipaka and Lakshminagaram.
Addressing the dharna, CPI(M) local leaders said necessary repairs must be carried out on sluice gates and high-capacity motors be deployed on a permanent basis at the karakatta keeping in view the havoc wreaked by flash floods in Godavari last year.
Later, a delegation of CPI(M) leaders headed by district secretary Annavarapu Kanakaiah submitted a memorandum containing a charter of demands to the authorities. The party State committee member Macha Venkateshwarlu and town committee secretary Gaddam Swamy were present.