Veligonda Water To Reach Farmers This Kharif: Nimmala
The minister said the government had also allocated Rs 903 crore for the rehabilitation of displaced families to facilitate filling of the Nallamala Sagar Reservoir
KAKINADA: Water resources minister Nimmala Rama Naidu on Sunday said the Veligonda Project would be inaugurated and water supplied to farmers during the current kharif season, with the remaining works scheduled for completion by the end of July.
Speaking to reporters at Palakollu in West Godavari district, the minister said the NDA government had completed works worth Rs 759 crore over the past 23 months. He said 4,924 metres of benching and 5,677 metres of lining had been completed in Tunnel-2, while the remaining 1,263 metres of lining would be finished by the end of July.
Rama Naidu said the government had begun tunnel boring machine (TBM) removal after obtaining permission from the High Court. In Tunnel-1, around 40,000 cubic metres of the 1.2 lakh cubic metres of muck obstructing the passage had already been cleared.
He said Rs 456 crore had been allocated for feeder canal works. Construction of a 5.3-km retaining wall, which began in January, was completed within five months. A cement concrete wall is now being built to repair the breach in the feeder canal caused by Cyclone Michaung.
The minister said the government had also allocated Rs 903 crore for the rehabilitation of displaced families to facilitate filling of the Nallamala Sagar Reservoir.
Rama Naidu criticised the previous YSRC government, alleging that former Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had inaugurated the Veligonda Project despite substantial works remaining incomplete. He claimed more than `5,000 crore worth of works were still pending at the time of the inauguration.
He said Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, who had laid the foundation stone for the project, would formally inaugurate it after its completion.
