On August 30, the Andhra Pradesh government announced that it would distribute social security pensions to beneficiaries on August 31 instead of September 1 as that day was a Sunday. Bolem Shravani, a young mother of two, thinks that if she had postponed the date, her mother-in-law might have been alive today.
Ms Shravani, her husband Shiv Shankar and their two children, aged 3 and 6, live in a dilapidated rented house in Vijayawada’s Mogalrajpuram, not far from the spot, which was hit by a rockslide following extremely heavy rains on an August night. At least six people were killed. 30. One of the victims is her mother-in-law Bolam Lakshmi (49). The others are Jampana Annapurna (59), Meghna (25), Santosh (18), Yashwant (18) and P. Lal (38).
Of the six families, only Meghna’s family, on whom the rock fell, was provided a house in Rajarajeshwari Peta as compensation. The second house, where Yashwant and Santosh had moved in as tenants just the night before the incident, was also damaged, but their family has not received any amount, according to the owner of the house. Venkateswara Rao says.
The deaths were some of the worst rockfall deaths to hit the city in recent times.
Although Vijayawada city has an estimated 3 lakh people living in the hilly slope areas in East and West constituencies, and Forest Town and Indrakeeladri areas have reported sporadic incidents of rocks falling on houses every year, incidents of deaths are rare.
ugly reminder of destruction
However, this time, apart from the six deaths, the damage included the damage to 96 houses, making it the first fatal rockfall to occur in Mogalrajapuram and the most devastating disaster to date.
The pieces of rocks and debris lying on the road, which have not been cleared by the authorities even after two months, are an ugly reminder of the nightmare of an accident, making it even more difficult to move forward. The rocks fell right in front of the 18th ward office in Division 5 of the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC).
Immediately after the rock slide, people living near the hill left their homes out of fear, but many gradually started returning. Still, whenever rain is forecast in their area a chill runs down their spine as they worry that another rock could roll down the hill and kill them.
shattered dreams
Ms Shravani and her family lived in their own kutcha house at the site of the rock slide until 18 months ago. Later, they moved to a rented house in the next street as they started construction of a two-storey building in place of the old house at a cost of ₹30 lakh.
“It has always been our dream to own our own home. It took years of savings and huge loans to build the new house, where my husband and his parents lived for 35 years.bolem sravaniresident of Mughalrajpuram hill slope
“It has always been our dream to own our own home. Years of savings and a huge loan were spent on building the new house, where my husband and his parents lived for 35 years,” says Shravani, remembering the joy she felt when she organized the housewarming ceremony on August 18. Barely two weeks before a rock took it from him.
More than 25,000 families live on the hill slopes in Vijayawada East constituency, which includes the Mogalrajapuram area. Ruling Telugu Desam Party MLA, Gadde Rammohan Rao, represents the constituency.
first of its kind
“The hilly area is spread across five divisions of the constituency, and each division has about 12,000 voters, and there are about 20,000 people in the division. The rocks on the hill where the accident occurred were in such a dangerous condition that one was afraid to go near it,” says Mr. Gadde Rammohan Rao, adding that this is the first time that such rockslides have resulted in deaths in the area. Are.
Corporator C. Usha Rani says one of the reasons people prefer to live on or near hill slopes is that it is cheaper. “You will find that two to three families live in a 100-yard area. Except for accessibility, people don’t have much problems here,” she says, adding that property and water taxes are also comparatively low.
While people started living on the hills in the 1980s, more families started settling there when road connectivity, drinking water supply and streetlights were provided. Most of these families belonged to the lower middle class, who had come from remote areas to earn livelihood in the 1970-80s. Since it was not possible to live in the plains of the city, they settled on the hill slopes, says Ms Rani.
Ms. Shravani’s mother-in-law, B. The family of Lakshmi (49) was initially a family settled on the hill slopes. Ms Lakshmi, who lived there for more than three decades, worked as a security guard at the PVP Mall, which was located in the heart of the city and just a kilometer from her home.
On August 31, she woke up earlier than usual to go to her new house and perform puja before going to the government office to collect her pension under the NTR Bharosa scheme launched by the TDP. After completing the puja, she closed the door and came out in the rain around 7.30 in the morning, when a rock fell on the next two houses and came rolling down, crushing the side wall of Lakshmi’s new house.
The loud sound of the rock woke up everyone in the neighborhood, including Ms. Shravani and her husband Shiv Shankar, who works at a shop in Auto Nagar, 5 kilometers from their home. They reached the spot and found that two houses next to their new house were in a heap of debris and their house was safe.
“It was raining. People were running here and there. Immediately people got to work and pulled out three people from the debris. Two of them were still alive at that time. But, at first we did not see my mother there, which gave me hope. I thought she must have gone out to collect her pension and was safe,” recalls Mr Shankar.
But their hopes were dashed when they found their mother’s mutilated body under the debris.
Jampana Annapurna, another victim of the rockslide, lived in a small one-bedroom-kitchen house next to Mr Shankar’s new house. The rock fell on the house where Annapurna lived on a rent of ₹3,000.
On that fateful day, Ms. Annapurna was about to leave for the government office to collect her pension, but a ward volunteer, who coordinates and implements government welfare schemes, told her that he would come to Ms. Annapurna’s place for guidance in a little while. Will come home. His. “That stopped my mother. If she had left for office, this would not have happened,” says Jampama Anil, Ms Annapurna’s son, who earns a living by doing odd jobs.
Mr Anil lives with his wife and a teenage daughter in a rented house just 150 meters away. “We rented a separate house for my mother so that she could have her own space and sleep well,” says Mr Anil. His wife, Ms. Prasanna, sells sugarcane juice nearby, and he pays ₹4,500 as rent for the house they live in.
“The memories of the tragedy keep haunting us,” says Ms. Prasanna, adding that even though she wishes to live in a house away from the hill, she finds it difficult to find a house that suits her budget. “Here, we get it cheap, but life is more important,” she says, adding that the ₹5 lakh ex-gratia she receives from the government is not enough compensation for her loss.
Started in the 1980s
“It was former chief minister NT Rama Rao who distributed pattas to 10,000 people in the 1980s. At that time, Mogalrajapuram hill was not occupied. Therefore, most of the leases went to people living in Chitti Nagar (West) hills. In the past, out of families worth more than ₹25,000, only 1,000 would have pattas,” says Mr. Rammohan Rao.
Current Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, during his previous regime between 2014 and 2019, had also asked Andhra University to identify protected areas in these areas where leases could be given. However, MLAs say the government changed after 2019 before the lease was approved.
Despite the recent tragedy, Mr. Rammohan Rao says residents have refused to leave and continue to demand leases.
experts are considering
Meanwhile, experts are of the opinion that there will be more extreme heavy rains in the region in future. G., retired professor of geology from Andhra University. Krishna Rao says, the hilly area of Vijayawada is very stable, but there is a danger of rocks slipping on the hills.
“The rocks of the hill are weathered to some extent. This means that the outer part of the rock has disintegrated and turned into soil. But the remaining rock remains contained in that soil-like substance. During heavy rainfall, the outer soil is washed away, causing boulder-like remains to loosen and roll down. G Krishna RaoRetired Professor of Geology, Andhra University
He explains: “The rocks of the hill are weathered to some extent. This means that the outer part of the rock has disintegrated and turned into soil. But the remaining rock remains contained in that soil-like substance. “During heavy rainfall, the outer soil is washed away, causing boulder-like remains to loosen and roll down.”
Geologists emphasize that since the rocks in the hills are highly jointed (fractured), there may be many such boulders, and rockslides may also occur from time to time depending on the intensity of rainfall. Therefore, it is not safe to live on the mountain slopes.
However, Mr Shankar, who lost his mother in a rockslide, believes otherwise. Determined to return to his newly constructed two-storey house, he says, “It was a unique incident. I don’t think such incidents will happen again.”
On the other hand, his wife, Ms. Shravani, is not as convinced as he is. “My children played outside every day when we lived there. We never thought there would be so much danger on the hill,” she says, “Now, I am afraid to send my children out to play.”
The solution to the couple’s dilemma appears to be in the hands of the government, and depends entirely on its determination to improve the lives of the rapidly growing urban poor population.
rampant construction, deforestation
Professor Banu Chitra, School of Architecture and Planning, Vijayawada, outlines some steps that can be taken to mitigate the problem: “Construction must follow strict guidelines of conducting soil analysis, foundation strength and slope safety tests. Should do. Regular inspections should be conducted to ensure compliance. Additionally, more trees should be planted on weaker slopes, as they can help maintain soil integrity.
“People need to be educated about the consequences of rampant construction and deforestation,” she says, adding that the government should designate protected areas to maintain the integrity of the soil.
She says that due to lack of dedicated zoning policy and urban planning, unregulated construction and deforestation have become prevalent, leading to environmental degradation.
Professor Chitra also emphasizes on setting up early warning systems and enhancing emergency preparedness.
solution out of sight
However, emergency evacuation may be difficult given the sheer number of people living in at-risk areas of the city.
Vijayawada received 18 cm rain on the night of 30 August. Mr Rammohan Rao says: “There are 200 sensitive spots in the city. Thousands of families live there. Moreover, this rain was the heaviest rain the city has seen in 100 years. Till then we did not know what ‘extremely heavy rain’ meant. Is it 10 cm or 15 cm?”
The MLA also says that installing security fencing in the area is not a viable option. “The houses are not built in any particular order. Crores of rupees will be spent in fencing each house. The government does not have the resources to undertake such a huge task,” he said, adding that the government would soon consider a viable solution to the problem.
Even as the government is trying to find a solution to the problem of three lakh migrant urban poor who risk their lives every day to stay close to their workplaces and earn a livelihood, Mr Anil and Mr Shankar, who Those who have lost their mothers are left with difficult choices for their future and that of their children.
published – November 08, 2024 08:31 am IST
