Irrigation projects in Andhra Pradesh would be taken up and completed within four to five years by achieving project-wise targets since the projects were neglected till now, Minister for Irrigation Devineni Umamaheswara Rao said here on Friday.
Huge amount of water from the rivers was going waste into the sea for several years, which otherwise would irrigate two crops in a year had the irrigation projects been completed.
In Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts alone Rs. 107-crore sanctioned amount was not spent last year and the 13 major and medium irrigation projects in the districts needed Rs. 2,095 crore for completion, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said at a press conference after a review of the projects in north coastal Andhra districts with Ministers and MLAs.
The review was made following directive by Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu.
A coordination meeting with Irrigation Secretary, Engineer-in-Chief and Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers concerned would be held during the first session of the AP Assembly from June 19 to 24, to sort out the problems.
In Visakhapatnam district, revised estimates of Rs. 1.2 crore for the NTR reservoir at Madugula were not given clearance, the Minister said and assured that the issue of Rs. 110 crore flood bank work on Varaha, Tandava and Sarada rivers in the district would also be sorted out soon.
The Minister assured that farmers of Uttarandhra who stood by Telugu Desam and ensured its success in the recent elections would be taken care of by the government.
Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi
The Rs. 7,000-crore Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi was one of the projects linked to the Polavaram project and steps would be taken to complete the project, he said. The project would irrigate 8 lakh acres in the three districts.
Minister for Labour K. Atchannaidu also spoke.
