Land acquisition soon for Jagjivan Ram Sujala Sravanthi

Vizianagaram: The district administration is gearing up for land acquisition of much-awaited Babu Jagjivan Ram Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi Project, which can irrigate 3.89 lakh acres in the district.

After the State government allocated Rs 160 crore for land acquisition of this project in the Budget, instructions were issued at a State-level meeting recently to speed up the land acquisition process to handover the required land for taking up of canals and reservoir works of this prestigious irrigation project.

It is identified initially that 4,498 acres of land is required from 59 villages of S Kota, Kothavalasa, Vepada, L.Kota, Bondapalli, Gantyada, Gajapathinagaram and Gurla mandals for this project. The district administration has decided to take up this works in a phased manner. The survey was completed in 2,000 acres and the revenue officials are preparing for issuing the notification.

District Collector A Surya Kumari requested the State-level officials to fill the land acquisition officer posts in several LA units in the district which have been kept vacant for the last several months.

In the meantime, the Collector issued instructions to three Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs) of Vizianagaram, Cheepurupalli and Bobbili to personally supervise the LA process and solve the field-level issues. To speed up the process, the District Collector has decided to hold weekly reviews on the progress of land acquisition.

It is proposed to supply water to nearly 3.99 lakh acres of new ayacut in 580 villages of 25 mandals in the districts of Parvathipuram Manyam and Vizianagaram under this project.

In the works part, the Water Resources Department has prepared plans to build two reservoirs in the district for storage of 10 tmcft of Godavari water supplied through canals of this project. One reservoir with 6.8 tmcft capacity will be constructed in Veeranarayanapuram of Vepada mandal and another one with 3.2 tmcft capacity is planned at Bondapalli mandal as Tatipudi extension reservoir.

The project works are divided into six packages and the tenders were also finalised and agencies were identified to take up these works, says executive engineer Umesh Kumar.

The Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi Project is designed in 2009 by the then Chief Minister Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy to provide irrigation facility to eight lakh acres of ayacut in three North Andhra districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam by constructing the left canal to Polavaram Multi Purpose Project. It is estimated that Rs 17,411 crore is needed to complete this project as per the preliminary estimates.

This project will definitely be a boon to agriculture sector in the North Andhra region which is prone to migration of people to other areas. It will also enhance the income levels of farming community as the farmers will get higher yields with assured irrigation.

District Collector A Surya Kumari appealed the to farmers to cooperate in land acquisition process as this project will benefit the community at large. She assured them that the administration will extend all help to those displaced families who lose their lands in this process.