Irrigation Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said that the State government has planned to bring 80 tmcft of Godavari water through the Pattiseema lift irrigation project in the first phase at the rate of 8,000 cusecs per day and reiterated that Polavaram project would be completed in four years in tune with Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu’s commitment to link up Godavari and Krishna rivers for the benefit of the deltas and Rayalaseema.
Addressing a press conference at the party office here on Sunday, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said top priority was given to Galeru-Nagari and Handri-Neeva projects which would be the lifelines of drought-prone areas in Rayalaseema.
He pointed out that creation of a new ayacut of nearly 1.40 lakh acres in Chittoor and Nellore districts was possible due to speedy forest and environmental clearances Mr. Chandrababu Naidu had secured for Telugu Ganga project.
The government was waiting for water to flow from Almatti and Thungabhadra dams and is carrying out the Pattiseema project at a brisk pace in the interregnum.
Jagan flayed
Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said YSR Congress (YSRC) president Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy was doing all so that he can rob the government of its credit for delivering its election promises that cost the exchequer nearly Rs 64,000 crore.
Mr. Reddy had no moral right to cast aspersions on Mr. Chandrababu Naidu and his government.
The YSRC chief himself is struggling to come out of the web of corruption cases pending with Enforcement Directorate, CBI and other investigating agencies, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said and added that the facts would eventually come out, as to who plundered national wealth.
In the first phase of the project, 8,000 cusecs of Godavari water per day will be provided to delta areas and Rayalaseema, says Irrigation Minister