Kharif support: 10tmc water to be released from Nagarjuna Sagar to Pulichintala project
VIJAYAWADA: Geology and excise minister, Kollu Ravindra, has said the government would help irrigate the entire farmlands in the Krishna Delta.
He said here on Tuesday that a resolution was passed at the Krishna district irrigation advisory board meeting in Machilipatnam to release 10tmc of water from the Nagarjuna Sagar project to the Pulichintala project. This is to support the irrigation requirements of Krishna Delta for the Kharif paddy cultivation.
“I would raise the issues of Krishna Delta in the next cabinet meeting.” he said.
The meeting was chaired by district collector D.K. Balaji and attended by minister Ravindra, as well as MLAs Mandali Buddha Prasad (Avanigadda), Kamineni Srinivas (Kaikaluru), Kagitha Krishna Prasad (Pedana) and Varla Kumar Raja (Pamarru).
Water resources officials highlighted the problem of low water storage at the Pulichintala project at a low of 0.8tmc-ft. They proposed transfer of water from the Nagarjuna Sagar project to meet the needs of approximately 13.07 lakh acres of Ayacut in the combined Krishna, Guntur, West Godavari and Prakasam districts.
The Pulichintala project has a total storage capacity of 45.77tmc.
The IAB meeting passed resolutions for the release of 10tmc from the NSP to the Pulichintala project and another resolution to relocate the Krishna river management board headquarters from Visakhapatnam to Vijayawada, due to its proximity to the Krishna catchment area.
The meeting sought to recruit Lascars through an outsourcing system and requested the government to release `32.10 crore to interlink the Polavaram right main canal at the 37.20km point with the Eluru Canal, as proposed by Gannavaram MLA Yarlagadda Venkata Rao.
The meeting promised farmers to provide irrigation water to all areas within the Krishna Delta.
Minister Ravindra said the Pulichintala project was in a state of neglect, resulting in inadequate water storage and operational issues, including the neglect of the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme. Chief minister Chandrababu Naidu's efforts led to the release of floodwaters from the Srisailam project to the NSP, benefiting delta farmers, he said.
He pledged that the state government would ensure adequate water supply to the Krishna Delta. “There was no proper desilting of the canals and drains. As a result, the water flow was affected,” he said.
