Taxpayers' Association Urges Govt Approve Proposals for Construction of Two Checkdams Downstream Prakasam Barrage

Vijayawada: The Tax Payers' Associationof Vijayawada has urged the state government to approve the proposals sent by the irrigation department for construction of two check dams downstream of the Prakasam Barrage at the earliest, in order to address the drinking and irrigation water needs of Vijayawada and other areas in the region.

Speaking to the media, Tax Payers’ Association president V. Sambireddy and secretary M.V. Anjaneyulu said they had sent a memorandum to the irrigation department on June 22, urging the department officials to construct a check dam with a capacity of five TMC ft of water and to sanction funds to the Vijayawada Municipal Corporation (VMC) to replace the existing drinking water pipelines with new HDPE pipelines. This, they suggested, would permanently resolve the drinking water issues of Vijayawada citizens and reduce the city’s reliance on the Prakasam Barrage.

“The irrigation department has submitted a proposal to build a check dam to store flood water with a capacity of 4.131 TMC at Chodavaram village in Penamaluru mandal and another check dam with a capacity of 4.95 TMC at Bandikollanka village in Mopidevi mandal. Both of these projects will be constructed downstream of the Prakasam Barrage to store excess floodwater,” Sambireddy and Anjaneyulu said.

They mentioned that the irrigation department has sent a letter to the Tax Payers' Association regarding the proposals and estimates submitted to the government. The department further wrote a letter to the VMC CDMA, requesting a response on replacing the old drinking water pipelines with new HD pipelines in Vijayawada City.

On this occasion, the Tax Payers' Association has thanked the irrigation department and the government for swiftly acting on their recommendations and preparing proposals to construct two check dams downstream of the Prakasam Barrage and to replace old drinking water pipelines.