Panel discusses Andhra Pradesh water projects with N Chandrababu Naidu
Vijayawada: The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources met Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu here on Friday at his camp office to discuss the progress on water projects.
Minister for Water Resources Management Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao and MPs Maganti Venkateswara Rao and Murali Mohan Maganti were also present.
The meeting was held among officials of Water Resources, Central Water Commission and the GoAP to discuss matters regarding Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), Command Area Development & Water Management (CAD&WM), rainwater harvesting programme, packing drinking water industry and its effects in Andhra Pradesh.
The committee, chaired by Hukum Singh, has 19 members. Of these members, Siddhant Mohapatra, Aparupa Poddar, V. Sathyabama, Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu, Pradeep Tamta, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, A.V. Singh, Harshvardhan Singh Dungarpur attended the meeting.
It is part of a study visit being conducted by the Standing Committee on Water Resources in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh and Shimla, from August 18 to 23.
They discussed the progress of Pattiseema, Purushottapatnam and Polavaram with officials of the GoAP. They are scheduled to visit Thotapalli Irrigation Project in Vizianagaram district on Saturday.
The Chief Minister told them that every Monday, there is a review meeting dedicated to discussing the progress on Polavaram and irrigation projects. He also conducted a virtual inspection of the site, along with the Standing Committee members. “With the help of advanced technology, we are continuously monitoring groundwater and rainfall, and examining with weekly forecasts of soil moisture, rain and others,” he said.
Water is an issue of national concern, he said, promising that the work on Polavaram is being completed with utmost priority and speed.
“All rivers in the north and the south need to be connected. Water disputes between states can prevented and the resources can be managed in a sustainable way,” he said.
He also stated that groundwater levels should be a priority for the nation, and 5 lakh farm ponds (out of a target of 10 lakh ponds) were sanctioned across Andhra Pradesh to boost groundwater and facilitate irrigation.
He announced the target of 1 crore acres of horticultural land development and 1 crore acres of micro irrigated land in the state by the end of the fiscal year.
