Gundlakamma reservoir gate to be installed soon

VIJAYAWADA: Minister for water resources Ambati Rambabu said on Tuesday that Rs nine crore was allocated for the repairs and installation of gate to Gundlakamma reservoir in Prakasam district. He said one gate of the reservoir was washed away due to floods and a new gate will be installed soon.

He made this statement in the Legislative Council while replying to a question asked by members on the fourth day of the Council meeting in Amaravati.

Council members Kancharla Srikanth, Tirumala Naidu and Bhumireddy Ramagopal Reddy have asked the reasons for not installing new gates at Gundlakamma project in place of gates that were washed away due to floods and the steps taken by the government for installment of gates.

The Minister said steps are being taken to install the gate and take up repairs and Rs nine crore has been sanctioned in this regard. Referring to Veligonda project in Prakasam district, the second tunnel works are currently in progress, the Minister said. He said efforts were on to supply at least 5 tmcft water from the Veligonda project by the end of this year. He said the groundwater level will raise with the supply of water from Veligonda project. He said the first tunnel of the project was dug by machines and the second tunnel is being dug manually and hence there has been a delay. Giving details of Polavaram project, Rambabu said the estimated project cost increased to Rs 55,000 crore and the amount will be sanctioned by the Union government as it is a national project sanctioned under the AP Reorganisation Act.