CM to Perform Jala Harathi at Payakaraopet Today
Naidu will arrive at Payakaraopet at 2.20 pm and perform a ‘Jala Harathi’ before switching on the regulator constructed on the canal and releasing water towards North Andhra. He will later address a public meeting.
Vijayawada:Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will formally release Godavari water into North Andhra through the Polavaram Left Main Canal at Payakaraopet in Anakapalli district on Wednesday.
Naidu will arrive at Payakaraopet at 2.20 pm and perform a ‘Jala Harathi’ before switching on the regulator constructed on the canal and releasing water towards North Andhra. He will later address a public meeting.
The release fulfils Naidu’s promise to bring Godavari water to Anakapalli within this year. The project is expected to provide irrigation to 2.87 lakh acres across four districts and drinking water to around 5.23 lakh people.
The Godavari water will traverse the Eastern Ghats after crossing the Pampa, Tandava, Varaha and Sarada rivers and passing through the Yeleru canal system. The water resources department has constructed siphons and aqueducts at different points to facilitate the movement of water through the river systems.
A siphon has been constructed below the bed level of the Yeleru river to carry the Godavari water, while an aqueduct has been built across the Pampa river. Its foundation has 312 piles sunk up to 30 metres deep. Across the Tandava river, a 447-metre-long aqueduct with six vents has been constructed to handle a discharge capacity of 10,634 cusecs.
The state government has spent Rs 4,192 crore on construction of the Left Main Canal. The present release is expected to benefit 1.50 lakh acres of ayacut in Anakapalli district. The department plans to use the water released from the Payakaraopet aqueduct to fill the Yeleru canal and 110 tanks in the district.
The Godavari water will help stabilise 1.48 lakh acres under the Pushkara ayacut, 80,000 acres under Yeleru, 12,000 acres under Pampa and 46,620 acres under the Tandava, Varaha and Mamidi Gedda ayacuts.
The government has constructed the 213-km Polavaram Left Main Canal to utilise 23.44tmc of Godavari water for irrigation, drinking water and industrial requirements in Visakhapatnam and Anakapalli districts.
The next major goal is to extend the water supply to Visakhapatnam next year and subsequently link the system with the Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi project. The planned integration will facilitate the supply of Godavari water to the upper regions of Anakapalli, Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram, Parvathipuram Manyam and Srikakulam districts.
The government expects the integrated system to ultimately help stabilise irrigation over nearly eight lakh acres across north Andhra while meeting the region’s drinking water requirements.
