Vijayawada Irrigation Circle officials released water into the Krishna Eastern Main Canal from the head sluice near the Prakasam Barrage here on Thursday.
Krishna Delta System Chief Engineer D. Sambaiah and Vijayawada circle superintending engineer K.L. Narashima Murthy jointly switched on the motors for hoisting gates.
The two officials later performed puja at the 100-year-old head sluice breaking coconuts and offering flowers to the water released into the main canal. Neither the Minister nor the elected representatives attended the function as the Election Code is in place.
Scheduled date
The State government and Irrigation Department have been under a lot of pressure to release water for the raising of seed beds in Krishna Eastern Delta. Telugu Desam MLA Devineni Umamaheswara Rao and other leaders have been issuing statements and participating in agitations at the Prakasam Barrage and the Irrigation Office demanding release of water.
While the scheduled date for release of water is June 15, water could not be released on the date for two reasons -- delay caused by modernisation works and the non-availability of water in major reservoirs.
Vijayawada Circle Deputy SE C. Ramakrishna said that 200 cusecs had been released to fill the Krishna Eastern Main Canal Basin. The basin is part of the canal which extends from the head sluice to the regulators of the three canals -- the Eluru, Ryve’s and Bandar. Mr. Sambaiah said that the level of water at the barrage was 12 feet and more water would be released in a phased manner in accordance with the requirement of farmers.
The ayacut of the Krishna Eastern Main Canal was 6.7 lakh areas, he said. Guntur District Irrigation SE V. Ramesh Babu and other officials of the department were present.
