No Headway in Yeleru Reserve Upgrade, Despite Promise From Pawan Kalyan
The Yeleru reservoir has a capacity of 24.11 tmc to cover 63,000 acres of ayacut. During the cyclones and heavy rains, the reservoir overflows and its waters inundate the standing crops and some of the housing colonies in Gollaprolu
Kakinada: No headway has been made in the Yeleru reservoir modernization project due to non-allocation of government funds.
The work is pending for the last decade and a half. As a result, during the rainy season and cyclones, the paddy fields and other standing crops are flooded, causing huge damages to crops and heavy losses to farmers.
Deputy chief minister Pawan Kalyan had promised farmers and those inhabiting the project area that he would proceed with the modernisation of the reservoir. But, there has been no momentum so far.
The Yeleru reservoir has a capacity of 24.11 tmc to cover 63,000 acres of ayacut. During the cyclones and heavy rains, the reservoir overflows and its waters inundate the standing crops and some of the housing colonies in Gollaprolu.
When the Congress was running the government from 2004 to 2014, the then central minister MM Pallam Raju made efforts to implement the modernisation works at a cost of `80 crore. Again, the project was at a standstill.
During the Telugu Desam period, the then government sanctioned Rs.130 crore for the purpose. But the funds had not been released, though it was rated as a “best designed’’ project.
If the funds are released for the project, a benefit is also that more than 73,000 cusecs of water can be released directly into the sea during the cyclones without causing inundation to crops and housing colonies.
By now, the project cost for modernization has escalated to more than Rs.900 crore.
Kakinada district collector Shan Mohan has also made a design to the Yeleru reservoir project. Efforts are being made to get the amounts. He aims to do the first phase works near Gollaprolu to stop the inundation of crops and housing colonies.
Waters from the Jaderu and Maderu rivulets in agency areas are the main sources for the Yeleru river. In the 1980s, when Yeleru reservoir project was conceived, it aimed at providing waters to 53,000 acres of
ayacut. The unauthorised ayacut is nearly 63,000 acres to 70,000 acres, depending on the availability of water.
Before construction of the reservoir, a village officer, Ramanna Panthulu, had identified 30 flood points and he explained in detail how they faced a problem if and when the Yeleru river was flooded. But, after construction, the flood points have been changed due to the water’s flows and this led to inundation of farmers’ paddyfields.
There is no way to send the floodwaters into the sea directly from the reservoir as the sea-mouth to the project area is narrow.
