Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy has said that he will have the progress in Pulichintala project monitored closely by an IAS officer. The Chief Minister informed it to a delegation of all-party leaders who met him in his office in Hyderabad on Monday.
The delegation, led by former Rajya Sabha member Y. Sivaji, included Eluru MP Kavuri Sambasiva Rao, Machilipatnam MP Konakalla Narayana, former Minister Vadde Sobhanadreswara Rao and CPI farmers’ wing leader Kolli Nageswara Rao.
The delegation told the Chief Minister that Pulichintala was the first of the Jalayagnam projects for which former Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone on October 15, 2004. A project that should have been completed in four years was taking nearly nine years for completion. The seventh agreement between the State government and the contractor would expire on June 13, they said.
On completion, the Pulichintala project would be able to store 45 tmcft of water. The balancing reservoir would stabilise the entire ayacut (13 lakh acres) of the Krishna delta that stretched across four districts – Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and Prakasam. Early transplantation would safeguard the crop from cyclone damage, the leaders explained.
The Chief Minister reportedly told them that an officer of principal secretary cadre would be sent to the dam site every fortnight to monitor the progress. A penalty clause would also be included in the agreement for further delay, he told them.
