Collector B Ramanjaneyulu expressed hope that four tmcft of Krishna river water would be impounded at the K.L. Rao Sagar (Pulichintala) project by August 15 in the first phase as against July 30 which was the original deadline fixed by the Government.
The entire project is to be completed by the end of 2011 whereas only 40 percent of the works have been executed till date with only eight out of total 24 crest gates nearing erection and subsequent commissioning.
As the government could not afford to let the project hampered further by rains and other extraneous factors, efforts are being made to get at least a part of Rs 30 crore due to Srinivasa Constructions Limited (SCL), cleared at the earliest to enable it to speed up the works.
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This is, however, subject to the condition that the company should show satisfactory progress, Mr. Ramanjaneyulu told media persons during his project visit on Tuesday.
Rehabilitation
The officials and engineers concerned were ordered to take steps for rehabilitation of people of six villages that face full submergence in first phase.
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A total of 14 villages will be completely submerged by the time the project is finished.
About three lakh cubic feet of concrete work has been completed against some 5.60 lakh cubic feet. To get the project going at a faster pace, SCL has been warned of penalties for failure to stick to the revised schedules.
The project foundation was laid in October 2004 when it was estimated to cost Rs 570 crore, which has now escalated to about Rs 1,200 crore. Out of approximately 11,500 acres needed for the project, 10,125 acres have been acquired.
The project is aimed at stabilising an ayacut of nearly 13.10 lakh acres in Guntur, Krishna, Prakasam and West Godavari districts.
Joint Collector A Sarath, Additional Joint Collector Yakub Naik, Special Collector (Land Acquisition) Imtiaz Ahmed, Guntur RDO Gangadhar Gowd and others were present.