Anantapur racing towards 1L mark

Anantapur: The district administration in coordination with the District Water Management Agency (DWMA) is planning to celebrate the digging of 1 lakh plus farm ponds by inviting Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu sometime in July or August.

The cause for celebration is the district performing the major feat of digging 1.13 lakh farm ponds. It is on the verge of making history by occupying first place in the country. DWMA Project Director (PD) Jyothi Basu told ‘The Hans India’ that 90,000 farm ponds have been completed while another 23,000 farm ponds are in  final stages of completion.  All the farm ponds have been dug with NREGS rural work force.

Hundreds of farmers have seen the farm ponds changing the history and geography of their agriculture lands. Out of the 7 lakh farm ponds sanctioned for the entire country, 1 lakh farm ponds were sanctioned for Anantapur district alone. The district stands on top in the state and in the country by achieving the enormous target of digging 1 lakh plus farm ponds. Rightly called ‘Panta Sanjeevani’, it is coming to the rescue of the drought-hit district farmers.

The central and the state governments are spending more than Rs 900 crore in Anantapur district alone on the 1 lakh farm ponds. Each farm pond costs anywhere between Rs 60,000 and 70,000. District Collector Veera Pandian speaking to ‘The Hans India’ says that out of the 7 lakh farm ponds sanctioned for the entire country, 1 lakh farm ponds have been dug in Anantapur district alone. Chittoor district stands second by completing 27,559 farm ponds and Srikakulam district the lowest by completing 2,761 ponds.

DWMA is spending Rs 60,000 to 70,000 on each farm pond using NREGS job card holders in villages. DWMA has already completed digging of 90,000 farm ponds while it is also facilitating the remaining 23,000 farm ponds completion in the next 3-4 months. The previous DWMA PD A Nagabhushanam played a crucial role in launching the scheme and in motivating farmers to dig farm ponds as part of the water conservation mission. The present PD Jyothi Basu is pulling all strings to bring the mission to its logical conclusion.