Andhra Pradesh gets ready to link Godavari, Penna rivers

Vijayawada: After creating history by inter-linking the Godavari and Krishna rivers at Pavitra Sangamam recently, the Andhra Pradesh government is now marching ahead and making arrangements for linking the Godavari and Penna rivers.

The government, which realised that inter-linking of rivers alone would help overcome the drought situation in the state, is taking up the linking of the Godavari and Penna rivers in order to provide water for cultivation to farmers in Guntur and Prakasam districts. 

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will set the foundation stone for the first phase of the project to provide water for the Sagar ayacut on November 26.
The government has prepared a plan to link the Godavari and Penna rivers in five stages. 

In the first stage, the Godavari waters from the Polavaram right canal, which is diverted into the Krishna through the Pattiseema and Chintalapudi lift irrigation schemes, will be diverted via Harischandrapuram in Guntur district and lifted at Nakirekal village i.e., at the 80th km point of the Nagarjuna Sagar right canal. 
The second stage involves the construction of a canal from the Polavaram reservoir to the Krishna river and an aqua duct on the Krishna river. 

In the third stage, a 70 km canal will be dug till Bollapalli and in the fourth stage, a 150 tmc ft capacity reservoir will be constructed at Bollapalli and a canal dug up to Somasila. The fifth and final stage will see the lining work of the canal from Polavaram to Somasila, required to complete the inter-linking of the Godavari and Penna.

The estimated cost of the entire project is Rs 83,796 crore and once the works in first phase are complete, 9.61 lakh acres covering 79 mandals under 16 constituencies of Guntur and Prakasam districts will get irrigation waters and be stabilised, thus resolving the farmers' problems in Pedakoorapadu, Sattenapalli, Vinukonda, Chilakaluripeta, Narasaraopeta, Gurajala in Guntur district and Yarragondapalem, Kondapi, Ongole, Darsi, Santanutalapadu, Parchur, and Addanki farmers.

The estimated cost of the first phase, including land acquisition costs, is Rs 6,020.15 crore. Once the first phase is complete, water to cultivate 9.61 lakh acres will be available, thus ending the travails of the farmers who have been facing severe shortage of water at the far end of the canal. They will have plenty of water not only for irrigation but also for drinking purposes.