Veligonda project’s twin tunnels turns a reality

Tirupati: Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday inaugurated the 18.82 km-long twin tunnels of the Poola Subbaiah Veligonda Project in Prakasam district.

The ambitious project, which would irrigate 4.5 lakh acres and supply drinking water to more than 15 lakh people, was dedicated to the nation by the Chief Minister, who unveiled the project pylon.

Addressing a public meeting, Jagan Mohan Reddy expressed his happiness at completing a project whose foundation stone was laid by his father, former chief minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy in 2004. "It's a proud moment for me to accomplish what my father had envisioned two decades ago. Mahaneta YSR had laid the foundation for this project.”

“It seems god had written this script for me to realise his dream as his son, and to fulfil the decades-old aspirations of the drought-prone people of this region," an emotional Jagan Mohan Reddy told the gathering.

The Chief Minister expressed his gratitude at being able to "travel through the twin tunnels" that has come as a boon to the locals. "The incredible engineering effort behind this is awe-inspiring," he stated.

Recounting the project's long journey, Jagan Mohan Reddy said, “Of the total 37-km tunnel length, the work on 20-km was completed by 2014. The Telugu Desam government that took power then could construct only 6.6 km in five years. But, in a record time of three years, we finished the work on the remaining 11 km, completing what my father had started," Jagan Mohan Reddy said.

The Chief Minister said the project would provide irrigation facilities to 4.47 lakh acres and drinking water to 15.25 lakh people, faced with fluoride problems, in the drought-prone areas of 23 mandals of Prakasam, five mandals of Nellore and two mandals of Kadapa districts.

The project would solve the drinking water problems of the people in Yerragondapalem, Darsi, Kanigiri, Udayagiri, Atmakur, Giddaluru and Badvel constituencies. Jagan Mohan Reddy said the government would have to spend `1,200 crore on land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement (LA and RR) package for filling the reservoir, which could likely be completed by July or August this year.

Providing technical details, he said the project would draw 43.50 tmc of floodwater from the foreshores of the Srisailam Project Reservoir through Kollam Vagu and a feeder canal, and store it in the Nallamala (Veligonda) Sagar reservoir, which has a storing capacity of 53.85 tmc of water.

The stage-1 canal of the project is set to irrigate 1,19,000 acres and the stage-2 canal will feed 328,300 acres. The project would supply 2.25 tmc of drinking water to 1,657 villages across seven Assembly constituencies in Prakasam district through the water grid programme.

Additionally, 2.58 tmc of water from the Nallamala Sagar reservoir will be directed towards the upcoming mega-industrial hub by APIIC Donakonda. Another 1.27 tmc of water is allocated for the national investment and manufacturing zone (NIMZ) under development in Pamuru and Peda Cherlopalle mandals.