State Minister for Water Resources Devineni Umamaheswara Rao has stated that the government has saved crops worth ₹13,000 in last three years by pumping the Godavari water into the river Krishna. He along with Government Whip Chintamaneni Prabhakar and West Godavari Collector Katamaneni Bhaskar participated in ‘jala harathi’ programme on Tuesday near Janampeta aqueduct to release water to the Krishna delta area through Pattiseema.
Addressing the gathering on the occasion, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said that through the Polavaram right canal, 8.4 tmcft of water was released to the Krishna delta in the first year saving crops worth ₹2,500 crore, in second year the released water was 54 tmcft which saved crops worth ₹55,000 and last year 90 tmcft of water was released to save 13 lakh acres in the Krishna delta.
Foundation for regulator
He said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu would lay the foundation for a regulator near Prakasam Barrage for free flow of water coming from Pattiseema. Stating that the State government had taken up 133 irrigation projects, Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said they were nearing completion, except the Polavaram major irrigation project.
