Notification released for water bodies’ elections

Rajamahendravaram: The path has been cleared for the elections of water management societies in the East Godavari district. District collector P Prasanthi has released Notification-1 regarding these elections.

Details of the regional constituencies will be published on October 31. Objections will be accepted on November 1 and 2. The final list of regional constituencies will also be announced on November 3.

From November 6 to 11, the voter list will be prepared with farmers as voters, followed by the acceptance of objections on November 11 and 12. The final voter list is set to be published on November 13.

The election schedule for water management societies and distributary project committees will be announced on November 20.

Elections for TC members and water management societies will occur from November 21 to 23, followed by elections for distributary committees from November 24 to 26, and project committee elections from November 27 to 29. The initiative for water management associations was first introduced in 1997 by then Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu, empowering farmers to manage operations and maintenance for projects costing up to Rs 5 lakh.

However, the YSR Congress Party (YCP) government previously rendered these societies ineffective.

With the return of a coalition government under Chandrababu Naidu’s leadership, there is hope for the revival of these water societies.

The East Godavari district alone has 113 water management societies, and the district collector confirmed the issuance of Notification-1 for their elections. Initially, groups of 8 to 10 farmers will elect regional constituency members, who will then choose the president and vice-president of the water societies.

These leaders will, in turn, elect members of the distributary committees, which will collectively elect project committees.