In its efforts to make Rayalseema drought-free, Andhra Pradesh government is keen to expedite the pending works of irrigation projects.
Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Wednesday, held a video conference with the district collectors of Anantapur, Chittoor, Kurnool and Kadapa districts along with the officials from the Irrigation department on the progress of various packages of the ongoing works at irrigation projects in the Rayalaseema region. He further inquired the rainfall deficit and status of water level at the reservoirs in the districts.
Having spent Rs 1,028 crore on land acquisition around the projects, the Chief Minister directed district collectors to complete the input subsidy distribution to the land owners without further delay.
Following a visit to the Jeedipalli Reservoir on July 3rd, the Chief Minister directed district collectors and irrigation officials to complete the de-silting works in a week’s time. “Mobilize contractors to deploy machinery and complete the work within seven days. Take stringent action on faulty contractors,” he added, while giving a strict order to irrigation officials.
All the unfinished works in Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanti (HNSS) Phase-II must be completed by December 2015, he added, directing the district collectors to reach a consensus with farmers in the region.
In order to meet the requirement to complete the works, the Chief Minister asked the collectors to look for resources for machinery and employment generation.
Since Galeru Nagari Sujala Sravanti (GNSS)project is designed to store inflows from NippulaVagu, Telugu Ganga and Srisailam Right Bank Canal, complete unfinished works, the Chief Minister added, to ensure there is no shortage of water for drinking and irrigation purposes.
The Chief Minister also suggested updating database online and getting real time updates on the progress of various projects. It can be integrated with the CM dashboard, he said.
Collectors, Engineers-in-chief and Chief Engineers are given extraordinary powers to fasten the progress of works in the pending projects, he said. “Even one TMC of stored water will be transferred to Rayalaseema. Our aim is to make the region drought-proof and recharge the groundwater levels,” he added.
Ministers Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, Bojjala Gopala Krishna Reddy, Irrigation secretary Adityanath Das, Secretary to CM Sai Prasad and other officials were present. (INN)