An irrigation project built at a cost of ₹600 crore and completed in 2006 is reportedly yet to be fully utilised by farmers in Prakasam district.
The Kandula Obul Reddy Gundlakamma project in Mallavaram, a flagship project under the Jalayagnam programme of the Rajasekhara Reddy regime, had envisaged utilisation of 12.84 tmcft of water but was unable to do so due to a prolonged drought that gripped the district for the last five years.
As a result, there was a question mark over the supply of irrigation water to 1.42 lakh acres and drinking water to 2.50 lakh people in the Assembly constituencies of Ongole, S.N. Padu and Addanki Assembly, even after spending ₹600 crore on the project.
The project, whose cost had gone up to ₹753.83 crore with the completion of leftover works like field channels and rehabilitation of displaced persons, was intended to provide assured irrigation to 62,000 acres during the kharif season and 80,000 acres during rabi.
“In view of the water shortage, we are not able to raise even one crop in a year,” said a group of farmers from N.G. Padu village who used to raise commercial crops like sesame, cotton, chilli, bengal gram, tobacco.
Dwindling levels
“The water availability in the project had dwindled over the years in the wake of uncertainty over Krishna water releases to Prakasam district, which is in the tail-end of the Nagarjunasagar Right Bank canal project, though it was entitled to 70 tmcft of Krishna water,” said V.V. Prasad, a farmer.
The Gundlakamma reservoir used to get water replenishment from NRBC as it is in the 7,910 sq. km catchment area in the NRBC ayacut. However, it is no longer so. Taking into view the uncertainty over water availability, the YSRCP government should allocate at least 5 tmcft of water from Nagarjunasagar reservoir to provide succour to the farmers dependent upon the Gundalakamma project, said Andhra Pradesh Rythu Sangam District Secretary P.Venkata Rao.
It was during the then YSR regime that 90% of the project work had been completed. It was the responsibility of the present government which has committed to reestablish ‘Rajanna Rajyam’ in the State to make Krishna water available in order to meet irrigation and drinking water needs of the people in the drought-prone district, said Acharya N.G. Ranga Kisan Samastha Secretary Ch. Seshaiah.
Drinking water schemes downstream the reservoir had become defunct, said a farmer leader Ulichi Edara Veeraiah Chowdary.
