After more than a decade water will start flowing from the Kinnerasani Project of Bhadradri-Kothagudem district irrigating close to 10,000 acres.
The project was conceived with a storage capacity of 8.4 tmcft and work commenced in 2006. But, majority of it was kept pending for want of sufficient funds while those completed were found to be lacking in quality.
At the instance of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, the TRS Government which took over the reins restarted work in the interest of farmers of Kothagudem and Pinapaka constituencies. Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao resolved pending issues relating to land acquisition and others in consultation with engineering experts to ensure that works were completed within the scheduled time.
Work on the left canal spanning 20.06 km had been completed and this would provide water to 2,100 acres in Kothagudem and another 4,900 acres in Pinapaka constituencies. The right canal on its part was strengthened to provide water to 3,000 acres.
The Minister had cautioned the executing agencies against delays in the project and was constantly monitoring the progress, an official release said. Mr. Harish Rao accompanied by Minister T. Nageswara Rao will formally release water from the project.
Palemvagu to be opened
Meanwhile, work on the medium irrigation project Palemvagu, with a capacity of 0.126 tmcft, too was completed for providing water to 10,136 acres in 32 villages of Venkatapuram mandal and seven villages of Wajedu mandal in the district. Following the initiative of the Irrigation Minister, the department secured necessary forest clearances for the project taken up with an estimated cost of ₹ 228 crore.
There were objections from the Forest Department for handing over of the forest land for the project, but the Minister and his team successfully convinced the department and ensured that land was surrendered.
The TRS Government took steps to ensure that 15 canals planned under the project including four major canals were completed within schedule. Though work was launched on the project during the previous Congress regime in the united AP, they were found to be substandard.
This was evident from the fact that the main anicut got washed away twice in 2006 and 2008 due to heavy inflows reflecting the quality of work undertaken by the then Government, according to an official release.
