Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu has asked irrigation officials to expedite completion of 54 ongoing irrigation projects and prepare an action plan to make the State drought-proof.
Advisory panelReviewing the progress of various projects, the Chief Minister announced that a State irrigation Advisory Committee would be set up to study water scarcity in mandals located near basins Krishna, Godavari, Penna, Vamsadhara and Nagavali rivers and formulate a plan to provide water to these mandals.
He wanted the officials to draw up a plan to utilise water from lakes and small water bodies and divert the same to drought-hit areas.
He instructed the officials to identify ayacut areas of various projects that will irrigate farm lands and prepare budget estimates within a week.
Minister for Major Irrigation Devineni Umamaheshwar Rao, Irrigation Advisor P.K. Agarwal and other senior officials attended the meeting.