Nexus of Good: A classic resurrection

One seldom comes across a government project that not only addresses the public problems at large, but also turns out to be financially prudent and receives accolades from all sections of society. ‘The Gollapadu Channel Project’ in Khammam town of Telangana, is one such example.

Cutting across the Khammam city for over 10.6 km of length, and spanning a varying width of 10-20 metres, the Gollapadu Channel was an old irrigation channel that once was the source of water for surrounding farmlands. With settlements near the channel combined with rapid urbanisation of the city of Khammam, the farm lands shifted outside the city.

Several encroachments on both sides on the banks of the channel took place over a period of time. The septage from these dwellings, which soon flourished into hundreds in number, was directly discharged into the channel. Several neighbouring settlements’ drain networks also got connected to the channel. In 2016, it was estimated that 1/3rd of the city’s sewerage drain water was passing through the Gollapadu channel. What was once an irrigation channel slowly got converted into a massive sullage and septic waste drain.

During the rainy season, the stormwater, mixed with sewerage, flowed into the Gollapadu channel. This caused submergence of surrounding habitations and settlements with sewage, septage and storm water. The stagnant water on ground caused severe-vector borne diseases such as dengue and malaria and, the condition became inhospitable due to bad odour. The sanitation issue, resulting from the channel overflow, was a mammoth challenge for the municipal administration since it posed a huge threat to public health., especially in a dengue-endemic area like Khammam.

Identifying the threat to public health, and in order to overcome the difficulties faced by the city, the Government of Telangana sanctioned the Gollapadu Channel Project — “Interception & Diversion of Gollapadu Channel by construction of Underground Sewerage Pipeline and connected Storm Water Drains and construction of Sewerage Treatment Plan (STP)” — under Chief Minister’s Assurances Programme with a financial outlay of Rs 100 crore in 2016.

The project mainly involved the following components:

Rehabilitation of encroachments and settlements

When the work on the project began in 2018, about 1,000 encroachments were identified on the banks of Gollapadu channel. The entire stretch of encroached land had to be removed for adjustment of slopes for laying the pipelines. This implied that the settlements had to be shifted. The district administration of Khammam identified a government land parcel in Velugumatla area of Khammam city, developed the land into plots and allotted the land to the land-losers free of cost. The land-losers who were earlier residing in a house encroached into the channel with no ownership rights and were surviving in inhospitable conditions, were now awarded land ownership rights and ‘pattas’ by the government. The newly formed colony, with 1,000 households, was given all basic services such as drinking water supply, electricity, street lights, toilets, road connectivity, documents such as Aadhar cards, Voter Ids etc. Though there was initial resistance and reluctance, they were forced to vacate, duly following statutory process and also involving local public representatives. Within one year, new settlements have come up, which are intrinsically different in size and nature compared to the earlier squatters. People, now confident about their ownership, have invested their savings and built good ‘pucca’ houses, and are living with dignity.

Conversion of Gollapadu channel into underground sewerage pipeline

After the removal of encroachments, the process for laying of underground pipelines began. The diameter of the pipes varied from 800 mm to one meter. Pipelines were laid for a length of 10.60 kms with manholes at regular intervals, and the entire sewerage entering into the Gollapadu channel was then intercepted and diverted into a Sewerage Treatment Plant (STP) of 20 million litres per day (MLD) capacity. The STP would treat the sewerage water through biochemical processes and release it into the Munneru river.

Soil filling over the underground pipeline

What used to be a 10-20-meter-wide channel got converted into a pipeline of one metre with varying slopes and depths across the length of the channel. After laying of the pipeline, the large extent of width was covered with soil for reclamation of land. Over 32 acres of land was reclaimed in the process.

Construction of stormwater drains to drain off excess rain water

Stormwater drains of length 7 km along the underground drain were constructed for catchment of excess rain water during monsoons. The underground pipeline is fitted with valves which open up during excess flow of rainwater and get connected to stormwater drains. This ensures that the pipeline and surrounding areas of the channel do not get flooded in case of heavy rains. The city withstood the challenges posed during the cyclones and heavy rains in the years 2021 and 2022. Although many areas of other cities got submerged during heavy rains, Khammam city, due to the construction of stormwater drains as a part of this project, along with the surrounding areas around the Gollapadu channel i.e., 22 municipal divisions, did not get submerged. For an area known for submergence during monsoons, the entire rain water now flowed into the Munneru River without any stagnation and submergence. The dengue incidence also reduced drastically.

Developing reclaimed land into public utility spaces

Removal of encroachments all along the channel and their conversion into underground drainage systems resulted in reclamation of around 32 acres of valuable land in the heart of the city. In order to develop the reclaimed lands into public spaces, ten parks have been developed by Khammam Municipal Corporation at various locations along the channel. As a tribute to the great leaders of Telangana, the parks have been named after personalities like Jayashankar, Bharatratna Vanajeevi Ramayya, Konda Laxman Bapuji, Kaloji Narayan Rao, Manchikanti Kishan Rao and Rajjab Ali.

The accomplishments of ‘The Gollapadu Project’ are several in number. The project not only addressed the gigantic public health issue of an urban conglomeration, but also transformed an area which was once stinky and highly prone to water stagnation into several beautiful parks with fresh air to breath. At a time when cities have no land to develop parks and playgrounds, and at a time of rising risks of non-communicable diseases like diabetes and cancer, the cascading and multiplying effect of such public spaces on the health of citizens is immense. The tangible and intangible benefits that the citizens and generations to come would reap is incalculable. It is estimated that just the value of land reclaimed (estimated at Rs 200 crore) through the project is manifold the financial amount sanctioned (Rs 100 crore). The Gollapadu channel project of Khammam city is, thus, a uniquely placed project, truly deserving the status of a successful public project. It is a classic case of an inclusive, sustainable project that also meets the cost-benefit criterion.

What this young collector, VP Gautham, and his dedicated team have achieved is truly remarkable. They present a wonderful example of Nexus of Good. Such situations exist in many of India's urban areas, which were earlier rural landscapes and the irrigation channels must now have been converted into sewer drains. Gautham’s model is replicable. The success of this project shows that political will, combined with administrative capability, can make anything possible.

Views expressed are personal