Four displaced villages under Pulichintala irrigation project in Nalgonda district were cut off from the outside world as the authorities impounded 10 tmcft of water for the first time after completing the project.
Speaking to The Hindu , Deputy Engineer at Pulichinthala, Srinivas said that they were receiving 32,500 cusecs of water from Nagarjunasagar and letting 14,000 cusecs downstream. “The water storage in the reservoir has crossed 10 tmcft mark,” he said.
A citizen from Adlur village J. Nagi Reddy told The Hindu that it was totally cut off and the villagers were using boats to reach home. Some of the villagers were living in makeshift tents in elevated areas near the village fearing the submergence of village during the night, he added.
Three more villages Vellatur, Nemalipuri and Kistapuram were also cut off from the outside world. Another villager from Vellatur, S. Narasimha Rao said crops in over 1,000 acres were submerged in the backwaters of Pulichinthala as the officials are increasing the water level. He feared that the situation would turn worse by Monday as the irrigation authorities decided to increase storage further.
Though the officials overseeing the rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) works have been persuading the villagers to vacate their houses, they were refusing to do so . Mr. Rao said that the government was yet to pay compensation for most of them. Besides, he said the authorities were also delaying the completion of works at R&R colonies.
