Farmers will stage a 13-km-long padayatra from Pulikanuma reservoir in Peddakabadur mandal to Satanur pump house at Kosigi in Kurnool district on October 19 demanding completion of the remaining two per cent work to make the reservoir operational, said Rayalaseema Saguneeti Sadhana Committee convenor Bojja Dasaratharami Reddy on Tuesday.
Pulikanuma reservoir was conceived in 1999 to stabilise Tungabhadra Low-Level Canal as silting had led to loss of five tmcft of water, Mr. Reddy told the media in Kurnool. The government approved the detailed project report of the reservoir with a capacity of 1.23 tmcft, allotted Rs. 261 crore and completed about 98 per cent of works two years ago.
As per the design, the reservoir would be filled if 300 cusecs of water was pumped for 60 days and would irrigate 26,400 acres in Peddakabadur, Nandavaram, Yemmiganur, Gonegandla, C. Belagal, Gudur and Kodumur mandals and supply drinking water to several villages. However, a 132 kv electrical sub-station had not been built for two years, leaving the reservoir in inoperative, Mr. Reddy said.
When the Tungabhadra LLC flow decreases, water can be drawn to the ayacut lands in Kowthalam and Kosigi mandals, besides catering to the year-long drinking water needs of Kosigi town.
