Rayalaseema Saguneeti Sadhana Samiti president Bojja Dasaratharami Reddy has sent a letter to Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy detailing all the issues prevalent in Rayalaseema and how to solve them.
In the letter, Mr. Reddy claims that Rayalaseema has about 90 lakh acres of cultivatable land and the existing irrigation projects, on paper, provide water to only 19.27 (21.41%) lakh acres. However, in reality, only 7.98 lakh acres of land is receiving water from the projects.
To solve this problem, he says that it is pertinent that irrigation projects are completed all over the State, and the water which is currently going to waste must be diverted to Rayalaseema.
Gundrevula Reservoir, Tungabhadra upper parallel canal, Vedavathi Barrage, Vedavati lift irrigation scheme, Siddheswaram wier, Gorakallu reservoir regulator and Rajoli reservoir must be constructed along with the increase of Handri-Neeva primary canal’s width to 8,000 cusecs.
Apart from irrigation projects, the letter also asks for a special package for Rayalaseema, an announcement of a second capital city of the State in Rayalaseema, a high court in Rayalaseema, planting of saplings and restoration of the Penna river.
Later he addressed the problems faced by the region due to bifurcation and said that the promises made in the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation act must be fulfilled.
10 districts
Moreover, he asked for Rayalaseema to be divided into 10 districts — Chittoor, Tirupati, Kadapa, Rajampeta, Anantapur, Hindupur, Guntakal, Kurnool, Nandyal, Adoni — and developed accordingly.
