Sachivayalam staff fear rockslides as office relocation requests remain unaddressed

A warning sign installed by the municipal corporation in front of the sachivayalam building after rockslides killed six persons back in 2024 at Mogalrajpuram, in Vijayawada on Thursday. G G.N. RAO

Every time there is a very heavy rainfall or strong winds alert for Vijayawada, a shiver runs down the spine of six persons manning the ward secretariat in Sunnapu Batti Centre, near Christurajupuram. The sachivayalam building is located at the foot of a hill, from which small rocks often slide down. One can see palm-sized stones and tree branches strewn across the premises.

Outside the building, a warning sign set up by the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) reads: “There is a possibility of occurrence of rockslides here”. The sign boards appear at multiple places in the colony. These boards were installed after rockslides, triggered by extremely heavy rainfall on the intervening night of August 30-31, 2024, killed six persons in the area.

The six lived in a house at the foot of the hill, in the lane next to the sachivayalam. A chunk of the rock also fell on a house located right in front of the sachivalayam, causing damage to the house. Since the incident occurred at night, the sachivalayam staff escaped by a whisker.

Following the incident, the staffers said that they placed multiple requests with the officials asking for a shift of their office to another, safer location. They were, however, told that there was no other space available in the area.

“Every time there is a strong wind, we hear sounds of rocks falling on the roof. The bathroom is non-functional and we have spotted snakes on the premises multiple times,” said a staffer, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.

The six permanent staff come to the office and attend to their duties despite living in fear every day as they await a positive response from the officials about their request.