Rich tributes were paid to R. Vidyasagar Rao, a well-known irrigation engineer and former Adviser to Telangana Government on irrigation, on his 80th birth anniversary on Thursday. His birth anniversary is being observed as Telangana Irrigation Day.
At a commemorative meeting organised at Jala Soudha, several engineers of the Irrigation Department led by Engineer-in-Chief B. Nagender Rao paid floral tributes to a portrait of Vidyasagar Rao. Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Nagender Rao said engineers were working hard towards realising the dream of Vidyasagar Rao – providing irrigation facility to every possible land holding in the State.
Stating that several pending projects were completed already, he said completion of the head work, first two links, of the Kaleshwaram project in less than three years was a testimony to the engineers’ hard work and also a tribute to Vidyasagar Rao. Completion of the head work was enabling lifting Godavari water to Mid Manair reservoir and also to fill a large number of minor irrigation tanks, including a tank in Vidyasagar Rao’s native place Jajireddygudem in Nalgonda district, in the Sriramsagar project command area.
Officer on Special Duty (Irrigation) to Chief Minister Sridhar Rao Deshpande recollected how Vidyasagar Rao used to argue for the judicious share of Krishna water to Telangana. Stating that inter-State water resources wing of the Irrigation Department was putting in a lot of work in realising the due share of Krishna water to Telangana, he said achieving the judicious share would be the real tribute to Vidyasagar Rao. Several Irrigation Department engineers and employees participated in the commemorative meeting.
