As the flood waters are receding in Vijayawada, now the government is focusing on filling of Budameru breaches and repair to damaged Prakasam barrage gates on war-footing. 120 officers and army jawans came from the 6th Madras Regiment and they are now engaged in the work of burying the Budameru trenches.
The Army officials found that the crater was 10 to 15 meters wide. They said that the third pit is 80 to 100 meters. They have decided to fill the pits with gabion baskets and said that the baskets will be piled on top of each other and stones will be laid to cover the pits.
Moreover, they said that a protective embankment of up to 4 meters will be constructed to strengthen the baskets. The manufacture of gabion baskets is done locally. Hesco baskets filled with sandbags will also be used.
On the other hand at Prakasam barrage, the process of removal of heavy boats including the repair work of gates is going on in full swing. The rescue operation, which started at 10 am on Thursday, is continuing for the rest of the day. Bekem Infra Pvt Ltd, a renowned engineering company has undertaken the work, aims to complete this operation in seven days.
On the 1st of this month, 3 boats coming fast from the top of Prakasam barrage collided with the gates and the counterweights at gates 67, 68 and 69 were damaged. Of these, the counterweights at gates 67 and 69 were destroyed in a useless manner.
The process of removing the destroyed counterweight at gate 69 was first undertaken. It was cut in two with heavy cutters and machines. Weighing 17 tonnes each, they were moved out of the Barrage with the help of heavy cranes. Later, the gate was lowered and the flow was stopped.
Another damaged counterweight at Gate 67 was removed by experts on Friday. Later, gates 67, 68 and 69 were brought down and the flow of water was stopped. On the other hand, expert engineering staff have started the process of removing the 3 heavy boats that came in the way of the barrage.
After hitting the gates, they overturned and did not move as a large amount of sand and mud got stuck in them. With this, strong chains are tied on both sides and the crew is trying to bring the boats back to normal condition by manual method with weight lifting cranes.
Prakasam Barrage and Dam Safety Officers are constantly monitoring the work at the field level and issuing appropriate orders. As three counterweights were damaged, advanced counterweights were made in the Hyderabad workshop of Bechem Infra and moved to Vijayawada to replace them. It was designed with steel under the instructions of Kannayya Naidu, an expert with vast experience in the arrangement and maintenance of gates.
