: The Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi Project, which was planned by the TDP during the NTR regime, was limited to foundation-laying ceremonies and allocations of water on paper. Work finally commenced during the first term of Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy.
The first phase of the project envisaged creating an ayacut of 1.15 lakh acres in the Anantapur district besides 85,000 acres in Kurnool district besides completion of main canal work.
While main canal work was completed during the term of N. Kiran Kumar Reddy and inaugurated on February 29, 2012, work on the distributaries languished. Also, the Irrigation Department was preoccupied with recalibrating the project to reach the water to Pileru, the then Chief Minister’s constituency. After the TDP came to power, the Chief Minister decided to extend the project up to his constituency — Kuppam in Chittoor district. However, as is clear from GO. No 22, dated February 23, 2015, the scope of construction of the project was limited to main canal works and the lifts involved thereof.
While considerable work on distributaries has been done in Kurnool district, very little has been done in Anantapur.
