Chittoor District Town Remain Flood-Prone Despite Spending Crores
“We don’t sleep when it rains at night. Water enters our homes within hours and there is no one to help": Govinda Nagar Resident
TIRUPATI: Across the undivided Chittoor district, even a few hours of rain can bring life to a standstill in several towns, from Tirupati, Chittoor and Kuppam to Puttur, Palamaner, Nagari, Punganur and Srikalahasti. The causes of flooding are similar – decades-old drainage systems, unchecked encroachments on canals and waterways, disappearance of water bodies and poor civic maintenance.
Despite crores of rupees spent every year on stormwater management, residents remain anxious each monsoon. “We don’t sleep when it rains at night. Water enters our homes within hours and there is no one to help,” said Lakshmi Narayana of Govinda Nagar in Tirupati.
The vulnerability of Tirupati city is compounded by its location at the base of the Seshachalam hills. About 20 waterfalls, including Malavanigundam and Kapilateertham, feed the local lakes before joining the Swarnamukhi River. Historically, two main channels carried this water, one from the northeast and another from the southwest via Pedda Cheruvu and Peruru tank. However, rapid urbanisation has blocked these natural paths.
“The inlet channel from the north to the east, once 30–40 feet wide, has narrowed to just 10–15 feet due to encroachments. This is why low-lying areas got flooded so badly in 2021,” underlined retired professor P.V. Ramana Kumar.
Significantly, Pedda Cheruvu has been taken over for government offices and housing, Peruru has been built over, and Thummalagunta pond has been converted into a cricket stadium, removing crucial flood buffers.
“Tirupati once had 44 water bodies of which six disappeared between 1975 and 1990, another 10 between 1990 and 2004, and more since then,” noted K. Subrahmanyam Reddy, an octogenarian and long-time resident of the city. Flood-prone areas, such as Madhura Nagar, Railway Colony, Sivajyothi Nagar, Reddy & Reddy Colony, Doddapuram Street, Satyanarayanapuram and Bairagipatteda face repeated inundation.
Other towns share the same pattern. In Puttur, the SR Cheruvu outlet canal has been built over, flooding Jendamaanu Veedhi and Bhavani Nagar. In Palamaner, constructions blocked the channels feeding Eddula Cheruvu, forcing evacuations during heavy rain. In Punganur, encroachments along the Koundinya canal inundate Yetigattupalem and Maruthi Nagar. In Chittoor, un-cleared silt causes overflow on streets like Church Street and MSR Circle.
Experts warn that climate change is likely to bring more intense rainfall. They stress that restoring natural drainage channels, removing encroachments, and constructing modern stormwater systems are essential to avert disasters. They suggest that flood prevention must start with desilting sewage drains ahead of the monsoon. Yet, most civic bodies in the district lag on this front.