Fill dams with floodwater in 40 days: Jagan Mohan Reddy

Amaravati: Chief Minister Y S Jagan Mohan Reddy directed the officials to be very cautious on utilisation of funds for irrigation projects and to spend funds according to priority.

He said all works should give the desired results at a review meeting with officials of the Water Resources Department held at his residence at Tadepalli in Guntur district on Monday.

The officials said that most of the Jala Yagnam scheme works were pending because of problems in land acquisition and forest clearance.

They said such works would be given first preference. Jagan directed the officials to take up the works with a plan of action.

The officials explained in detail to the Chief Minister about the present condition and the water levels in reservoirs pertaining to Krishna, Godavari and Penna river basins.

They informed the Chief Minister on the district-wise works taken up in river-based projects in the State. The Chief Minister reviewed the implementation of works in Polavaram, Veligonda, Vamsadhara and other projects in the State.

He questioned why despite rivers continuously receiving floodwaters, some projects could not be filled so far. The Chief Minister sought details of the capacity of the canals and the pending works from the officials.

Jagan directed the officials to prepare an action plan for filling all the projects with floodwaters in 40 days and to submit a detailed report on the issue with proposals made.

He also sought estimates for the new projects to be proposed based on priority.

Alternative measures to fill Kalyani Dam and NTR Jalasayam near Tirupati came up for discussion at the review meet. The officials said that while the total capacity at Gorakallu reservoir was 12.44 tmcft, they could fill only up to 9 tmcft so far and that they need forest department clearance to fill it to the full capacity.

Similarly, Avaku reservoir also needed forest clearance, and so far they could fill up to 3.3 tmcft of water while it has a capacity of 4.15 tmcft. The Chief Minister directed the officials to take immediate measures to solve the problem.

The officials said that the embankment of Alaganur reservoir would be repaired by November. While the officials said that 5,000 cusecs of water had to be released from Telugu Ganga project to SPVB reservoir in Kadapa, only 1,300 to 2,000 cusecs of water was being released.

The Chief Minister asked them to prepare an action plan to mitigate the problem. He also directed the officials to complete the R & R works for Veligonda, Gandikota and CBR projects and fill them to the brink.

Jagan questioned the officials why only 2.62 tmcft of water was being released to PAB reservoir while 11.10 tmcft of water had to be released to it. The officials told him that the problem was due to seepage and it will be rectified immediately.

The officials said that water had to be supplemented through Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanti for which the Chief Minister sought proposals for the purpose. He also directed the officials to supply water from Handri-Neeva project to Bhairavanitippa and to complete Tungabhadra canal modernisation works.