Southern States - Andhra Pradesh   

TCLF opposes Pulichintala

By Our Special Correspondent

HYDERABAD Feb. 25. The Telangana Congress Legislators Forum (TCLF) has opposed the Pulichintala project in Guntur district saying that other pending projects across the Krishna must be taken up first.

Addressing a press conference here today, G. Chinna Reddy, P. Goverdhan Reddy, K. Venkata Reddy and R. Srinivas, all MLAs, said the proposed project would lead to submersion of 45,000 acres of agricultural land, including some under the Nagarjunasagar ayacut, in addition to 36 villages. They asserted that all political parties in Nalgonda district were strongly opposed to the project.

The MLAs pointed out that nearly 10 lakh people in Nalgonda district were drinking fluoride-affected water leading to physical deformities. The Government must attach first priority to provide water for drinking and irrigation in backward areas like Nalgonda before investing crores of rupees on stabilising the existing ayacut in Krishna delta.

Making out a case in support of their argument, they said the Pulichintala project had not received environmental clearance from the Centre so far. Moreover, it could never fulfil its purpose of tapping water from the Halia and Musi since both rivers had turned dry, leaving it to depend solely on water released from Nagarjunasagar after power generation.

A better proposition would be to construct a tailpond dam at Nandikondasagar near Satrasala village, 21 km downstream of Nagarjunasagar. Water stored here could be pumped back to the main dam during non-peak hours for power generation and released for irrigation during the remaining time.

The Congress MLAs said Nandikondasagar, which was estimated in 1994 to cost Rs. 351 crores, had received environmental clearance in 1981 and again in 2001. The project involved no submersion whatsoever.

However, its main advantage was the possibility of linkage with the Inchampalli project for diverting excessive flows in the Godavari into the Krishna basin. The additional 300 tmcft of water so generated could be distributed in three equal parts between Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Rayalaseema.

The MLAs said the Government must drop the idea of building a project at Pulichintala and instead go in for a dam at Mylavaram in Krishna district to tap Palair, Wyra and Vattivagu rivers whose waters were going waste into the sea.

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