Visakhapatnam: District incharge minister and finance minister Yanamala Ramakrishnudu said on Friday that the Polavaram left canal would be completed by the end of 2017 which could supply water to approximate 6.3 lakh acres in the district. Similarly, the government has intention to speed up Babu Jagjeevan Ram Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi which will also help the farmers, he added.
The finance minister in a review meeting held with the local officials on the drought conditions prevailing in the district said if the Sujala Sravanthi works were pending at the state government level, the local ministers and MLAs should immediately inform so that they would be taken up on a warfooting.
The minister asked the officials to submit a list of pending projects in the district to the local ministers and the MLAs. He said the government has been making serious efforts to increase the groundwater levels so as to mitigate the drought-related problems.
He also asked the officials to complete all the recharge pits and the farm ponds as per the schedule under the Neeru-Pragathi programme.
Regarding water crisis at Visakhapatnam Steel Plant (VSP), he said the plant would not be deprived of the water and if necessary water would be pumped to Yeleru Canal from Pushkara Lift Irrigation project.
