T. Lakshmi Narayana, a water resource project researcher and convener of the Andhra Pradesh Comprehensive Development Study Forum, said that all the large and medium irrigation projects currently under construction in Andhra Pradesh should be completed on a war footing.
Speaking at a meeting held by Jana Chaitanya Vedika in Guntur on “Irrigation Projects in Andhra Pradesh – Current Situation”, he said that the government should give top priority to the projects like Handriniva, Galeru Nagari, Telugu Ganga in the drought-hit Rayalaseema region, Velugonda in Prakasam district, Vamsadhara Phase II, Thotapalli Barrage, Vamsadhara Nagavali Connection Scheme and North Andhra’s Srujala Sravanti by allocating necessary funds and constructing them.
He said that the construction of the Polavaram diaphragm wall, which is a national project, is gratifying and the project’s specified objectives will be fulfilled only when Polavaram, which is a multipurpose project, is built at a height of 150 feet and filled with maximum water.
He deplored that the canal system has reached a dilapidated state due to the government’s lack of focus on the management of projects currently in use in the past few years, and he asked that the necessary funds be allocated and repairs be done by the next monsoon. He suggested holding a meeting with the state government, experts, activists, political and farmer associations to provide an opportunity for a wide-ranging discussion on the Godavari-Banakacharla interlinking scheme.
He cautioned the coalition government that it should protect the water rights of the state inherited through the Bachawat Tribunal verdict by effectively arguing the Krishna waters before the tribunal.
Former minister Dokka Manikya Varaprasad said that the Kaleshwaram project has become a burden on the people of Telangana and the Godavari-vBanakacharla project should not become a burden on the people of Andhra Pradesh. He said that if small projects that provide more results at less cost are completed completely, good results will come.
Jana Chaitanya Vedika State President Vallamreddy Lakshman Reddy advised the state government against taking up Godavari Banakacharla project at a cost of Rs 90,000 crore in the name of river linking in the context of the debt-ridden state borrowing Rs 70,000 crore in the last seven months and paying more than Rs 6,000 crore in interest every month.
All India Kisan Sabha National Vice President Y. Kesava Rao, expressed his regret that only 52% of the allocations for irrigation projects have been spent in Andhra Pradesh in the last five years and that not a single crore of the Rs.15,000 crores allocated in the current government’s budget has been released.
Professor D. A. R. Subramaniam, President of the Joint Guntur District Sarpanch Association Kalluri Srinivasa Rao, High Court Advocate Narra Srinivasa Rao, Former President of AP Gazetted Officers Association AV Patel and others spoke in this discussion.