A team of the Uttarandhra Projectla Sadhana Samiti that visited the headworks of the Purushothapatnam Lift Irrigation scheme on the Godavari on Tuesday is happy with the brisk pace of work.
It is of the view that the Phase I could not be completed by August as planned by the State government but could be partially completed.
Huge benefit seen
“However, Phase I will be ready by the next summer so as to meet the water needs of Visakhapatnam. It will also hugely benefit farmers in East Godavari district by stabilising irrigation for 2.5 lakh acres,” said former Minister Konathala Ramakrishna, a member of the samiti.
Others who visited the work included former Government Whip Dronamraju Srinivasa Rao, Irrigation Advisor to the Government and retired Chief Engineer S. Satyanarayana, former Superintending Engineer Brahmanaiah, CPI district secretary A.J. Stalin, former Chairman of the Zilla Grandhalaya Samstha Thota Nagesh and Uttarandhra Rakshana Vedika President S. Siva Sankar.
Ten motors had to be fixed at the lift scheme and some of them could be ready by August, Mr. Ramakrishna said. Water would be lifted from Purushothapatnam into the Left Main Canal of the Polavaram multi-purpose project 10 km away. In the first phase, a regulator would be constructed at Yeleru to pump water into the Yeleru reservoir. The cost of the scheme is ₹1,551 crore.
The former Minister said about 6 km of the pipeline work at Purushothapatnam was completed and the work at Yeleru had also begun.
However, tenders had been called for the two crossings on the national highway and were yet to be finalised. Mr. Ramakrishna said at least for 50,000 acres in the Payakaraopeta constituency under the Polavaram LMC irrigation should be provided in the first phase.
Besides work on the LMC was not going on in a full-fledged manner in the eight packages and was brisk in only one or two packages. It should be expedited and simultaneously tanks for storage of the LMC water readied.
