Expressing concern over the stalling of works on Kuppam branch canal, TDP national president N. Chandrababu Naidu on Friday said that the government was causing irreparable damage to farmers at a time when severe water crisis was prevailing in the western region of Chittoor district.
“Farmers in Kuppam and Palamneru constituencies are bearing the brunt of the government policies. The government has allocated meagre funds to the irrigation sector,” he said in a letter addressed to Principal Secretary of Irrigation Department.
The delay in the works of Kuppam branch canal has resulted in irrigation and drinking water problems in the western mandals of Chittoor district, he said, claiming that 90 % of the works were completed during the TDP regime.
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“Only 10 % of the works of Kuppam branch canal have been pending since the last 13 months. The canal digging was completed in a stretch of 121 kms. About 221 of the total 324 structures were completed. Works pertaining to another 59 structures are yet to begin. About 1.43 lakh cubic metres of earth work and 23,000 cubic metres concrete works are also pending. About ₹30-crore bills are yet to be paid,” he said.
The TDP chief alleged that irrigation projects undertaken in all 13 districts had been stopped.
Mr. Naidu asserted that during the TDP regime, ₹14,000 crore was spent per year on irrigation projects, while the same for the YSRCP government was just ₹4,700 crore.
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‘Political vengeance’
Mr. Naidu also deplored that all borewells were drying up and people were not getting adequate supply of drinking water through tankers. “The government is not even paying tankers bills in time,” he alleged.
“Stalling Neeru-Prajathi works is a thoughtless act. It is nothing but political vengeance to stop payment of bills pending from the previous government,” he added.