Open ghats pose threat to safety of children

Vijayawada: Hundreds of families living along Krishna river upstream and downstream of Prakasam Barrage are now concerned over the safety of their children as kids have easy access to the ghats where they may be drowned or face life risk. Keeping a close watch on children during the holidays is not easy for the parents. Now, the parents are worried that their children may venture into river and face risk of drowning.

Thanks to Krishna Pushkaralu, the Irrigation department constructed beautiful and spacious ghats upstream and downstream of Prakasam Barrage investing crores of rupees. The length of these ghats is nearly 3 km from Krishnalanka to Gollapudi.Thousands of families are living in Krishnalanka, Kummaripalem, Bhavanipuram, Gollapudi etc along Krishna River.

Reaching Krishna River from these areas takes less than 10 minutes. So, the parents are worrying over the safety of their kids.
Children are fond of water particularly rivers, canals, tanks etc.

So, there is a possibility of children venturing into Krishna River due to construction of ghats and easy access to the river. Most of these ghats are open and very near to the national highway as well as dozens of colonies.

The residents of these areas want the State government to take safety measures like construction of walls, erection of barricades and fencing to prevent the children venturing into the river.

The protective measures will also be useful to check misuse of these ghats by anti-social elements. There is a possibility of ghats being used for consumption of liquor, gambling and other unlawful activities. The Irrigation department spent more than Rs 100 crore for development and construction of these ghats.

During the Pushkaralu, thousands of policemen, fire department staff, NDRF team and expert swimmer camped at the ghats to prevent any untoward incident.

After Pushkaralu, all ghats are empty without any person. Sand bags arranged at the Krishnaveni and Padmavati ghats for the safety of pilgrims will be removed soon, thereby providing easy access for children to venture into the river.

R Sailaja, a B Tech student of Bhavanipuram, said children venture into river without informing their parents. She said construction of compound wall and monitoring of ghats is must.

With Pattiseema waters reaching for two months, water levels at the upstream of Prakasam Barrage are increasing. This will also attract children and youngsters to take bath or swim in the river, she added.

Shaik Kalam, a resident of Kummaripalem, said, “We are happy with the development works, but the government should think about the safety of local residents.”

He said the government has planned to construct Karakatta wall with Rs 100 crore along Krishna River. But even after five years, the works have not yet started. Now, with development of ghats, the government must act swiftly before any untoward incident takes place in the city.

Another resident of Bhavanipuram Joseph said it will be difficult to check children from venturing into ghats. He said removal of houses from Karakatta for development work will be a curse to children.

He said earlier local residents living on Karakatta used to keep an eye on the river and children taking bath, and now there are no houses and no families to take of children venturing into the river.

By:Md Ameen