Markapuram: Officials told to expedite Veligonda works

Markapuram: The works of Veligonda project should be completed by the end of August, said District Collector Dr Pola Bhaskara while reviewing the progress of the project work and the rehabilitation of the displaced persons with officials of the Revenue and Irrigation department at the revenue divisional office here on Thursday.

Recalling that the Chief Minister visited the project on February 20, he said that it had been planned to expedite the work on the project. He said that the government would be informed to release Rs 200 crore by the month of March to enable the completion of the first phase.

He said that the chief minister was informed that Rs 1,860 crore was needed for the completion of the first phase for which the chief minister responded positively. "Efforts are being made to release water through the project during the next monsoon by completing it by the end of August," he said.

The works on Veligonda tunnel, head regulator, main canal, and feeder channel should be undertaken immediately, he said.

The collector instructed the officials to start work on Gottipadiya-Kakarla dam to store water in the Veligonda project. He told the contractors to complete the remaining tunnel work which was only one kilometer length by July. The head regulator work on Kollamu rivulet in Krishna district and erection of gates should be expedited.

He suggested to the officials to prepare proposals to extend Tigaleru canal under the Veligonda project and forward it to the government. Likewise, proposals should also be prepared for constructing a lift irrigation scheme at Papinenipalli at a cost of Rs 70 crore.

The collector said that he would conduct review meetings every fifteen days to expedite the work on Veligonda project. Joint Collector S Shanmohan, Veligonda project special collector Gangadhar Goud, special deputy collector Chandraleela, Veligonda project CE Jalandhar, EEs Prabhakar and Chinna Babu, Markapuram RDO M Seshi Reddy, Tahsildars, Irrigation engineers and others were present.