Rajahmundry: Claiming credit for completing the Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme on the Godavari river in less than a year, Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu dedicated the project to the people of the state.
Speaking after inspecting the project at Pattisam village of Polavaram mandal in West Godavari on Monday, he said the foundation for the project was laid on March 29, 2015, and was completed in record time.
He said, “The project will facilitate inter-linking of two rivers, Godavari and Krishna. Some people expressed doubts when we said in the Assembly that the project will be completed in a year and they also vowed to quit politics if it happened. I must say this should be a lesson to them. I have visited the project site nine times so far.”
Nearly nine TMC ft of water including 4.5 TMC ft of water from the Tadipudi lift scheme, was diverted to Krishna delta and crops worth about Rs 2,500 crore were saved, he said.
“Taking a cue from the successful completion of Pattiseema project in record time, we will complete the Polavaram irrigation project at a faster pace,” he said.
Every acre in the Godavari delta region will be provided water for cultivation of crops in two to three years. The Krishna delta will be stabilised while Rayalasee-ma region will be developed as a ‘Ratanalaseema’ by executing the Polavaram project, he said.
The Chief Minister said that nearly 220 villages would be submerged and 370 habitations affected once the works on the Polavaram project are taken up in a brisk manner and added that about 43,972 households need to be rehabilitated by providing land and houses to ensure justice to all the affected people.
