Dream turns into 'reality' as Godavari meets Krishna
CM Naidu poured Godavari water, brought in a vessel, into the Krishna to mark the interlinking
By : bh. ramakrishna
Update: 2015-09-17 06:32 GMT
Vijayawada: Marking a historic event, Godavari water reached the Krishna on Wednesday, not directly from the river at Pattisam but from the nearby Tadipudi reservoir. Irrigation officials provided a diversion at Guddivagu and 350 cusecs of Godavari water was lifted from the Tadipudi reservoir and let into the Polavaram right canal to reach the Krishna.
This water flowed up to Nunna in Krishna district and then merged with the Krishna at the inter-link point at Ferry village, 20 km from Vijayawada. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu poured Godavari water, brought in a vessel, into the Krishna to mark the interlinking. He unveiled a pylon and performed a puja to mark the occasion.
Later, speaking at a public meeting, Mr Naidu claimed credit for the inter-linking, saying, “If former Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee could think of it, I made it a reality. If (irrigation expert) K.L. Rao proposed it, I implemented it,” he said, adding this was the greatest moment of his career.
Earlier, heavy rains hit the government’s plans to start the Pattiseema project at 9 am, with the officials failing to fit the heavy motors to the first pipeline of the project. Not only did the rain delay the vehicle carrying the motor from reaching on time, it also stopped the engineers from supplying power.
At 10 am, the media was informed of the delay and taken to Ferry village. Officials said the river linking would take place first, followed by the public meeting and then Mr Naidu would proceed to Pattiseema. The motor would be switched on at 3.45 pm, they said.
This wasn’t to be, as the engineers were still toiling when Mr Naidu reached the village at 4 pm. Mr Naidu broke a coconut there, performed puja at the pipelines and returned. The motor installation was to be completed by midnight, officials told the media.