With the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme well on its way the Guddigudem Lift Irrigation Scheme proposed for the irrigation of 3 lakh acres is being brought out of the closet.
Minister for Major Irrigation Devineni Umamaheswara Rao addressing irrigation experts and media recently said projects that would provide water to A.P. farmers on time would be re-examined. The Guddigudem Project is one among a long list of “good” projects that have not seen the day of light till now.
The Rs. 4,600-crore scheme on the Polavaram Right Main Canal will irrigate 2.5 lakh acres currently in the ayacut of the 21{+s}{+t}branch canal of Nagarjuna Sagar Project (NSP) and another 50,000 acres in the ayacut of Tammileru and Yerrakalva reservoirs. The scheme will be located near Guddigudem village in West Godavari district.
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NSP was designed to irrigate 4.72 lakh acres and in the early years the entire area could be irrigated. But the construction of many projects in the upper reaches of River Krishna has changed the situation subsequently. Bifurcation has further changed the state of affairs. Besides irrigating over 4 lakh acres the 21{+s}{+t}branch canal of NSP caters to the drinking water needs of 21 lakh people living in 410 villages. A pumping scheme with the capacity to lift 41 tmcft from the Polavaram Right Main Canal has been prepared by former Irrigation Engineer K.Harnadh.
On completion of the project 4.625 lakh tonnes of food grain worth Rs 1,138 crore will be produced annually. The cost per acre on irrigation component works out to Rs 1,10,900 with a cost benefit ratio of 1.72, Mr Harnadh said.