The area around the once stinky Narra will be transformed into a park, gym and children’s playground
Post Date – 12:00 AM, Wednesday – Dec 7 22
(Left) The once-stinky Gollapadu Channel is filled with debris (right) An open-air gym is being built in the area.
Common: From an open ‘nala’ with floating litter, Gollapadu access is now being transformed into a delightful area dotted with parks, open gyms and children’s playgrounds.
With the state government securing sufficient funding and fast execution of the works, the Gollapadu passage and its surrounding areas presented a spotless appearance adding to the beauty of the city of Khammam. Rs 100 crore is being used to modernize the ancient ‘nala’.
The Gollapadu channel was dug nearly four centuries ago and until a few decades ago it was the source of irrigation for the farmlands of Sundaraiah Nagar, Dhamsalapuram and other once suburban areas. With rapid urbanization, Nala was encroached and turned into a dirty drainage system.
Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar briefed Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on the dire condition of the waterway and requested funds to modernize it and the surrounding area. During his visit to Khammam, the Chief Minister approved funds for this purpose and drew up plans to modernize the “nala” and develop its surroundings in 10 municipal subdivisions.
IT Minister KT Rama Rao laid the foundation stone for the modernization project in November 2016. The Chief Minister’s Special Guarantee Fund and other funds have been used for the upcoming modernization works, thanks to Ajay Kumar’s continued oversight of the works.
Ajay Kumar said that as part of the modernization of the Gollapadu channel, the ‘nala’ is now converted into an 11 km long underground sewer cum stormwater drain, so the reclaimed land is being developed into a park.
A total of five parks – with fences, lighting, open gymnasiums and walking tracks – are being developed, with the most recent one named after Green Crusader Vanajeevi Ramaiah being inaugurated in Khammam Municipal Corporation Branch 30. “For decades, past governments have ignored the people’s demands to develop the Gollapadu channel. Due to the stinky open channel, the locals used to face mosquito problems and unsanitary conditions, and during the rainy season, the water from the drain would flood the vicinity of the channel houses. Thanks to the Chief Minister, the area is now a beautiful spot in the city,” said Ajay Kumar.
To treat sewage, a Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) of 40 MLD capacity is being constructed, involving an outlay of Rs 30 crore. The minister said that the inhabitants of the encroaching “nala” had been evacuated and resettled in Velugumatla.
Speaking at the Nizamabad Development Review Conference in Hyderabad recently, the Chief Minister told officials and elected representatives of the region to visit Khammam to study how the city is being developed.
