Central team visits Musurumilli project

Rampachodavaram: Central environmental monitoring committee directed steps to enhance greenery in order to protect environment under various irrigation projects, Project Officer Rampachodavaram ITDA A Dinesh Kumar said here on Tuesday.Central environmental monitoring committee inspected construction works of Musurumilli medium-scale reservoir and steps being taken to preserve environment under the project on Tuesday. The team visited rehabilitation and resettlement colony in Sithapalli and interacted with them.

Highlights:

• Central environmental monitoring committee inspects construction works of Musurumilli reservoir
• The team review steps being taken to preserve environment under the project
• The team visits rehabilitation and resettlement colony in Sithapalli

The tribals living in the colony told the Central team that their living standards had improved after moving into the colony, whereas they were deprived of basic amenities in the past. The evacuees said that they were getting loans through TRICOR and Velugu schemes to set up small and medium-scale industries. They also expressed happiness over the fact that their daily income had increased due to value added industries like cashew processing units.

Speaking on this, ITDA PD Dinesh Kumar said the Central team had suggested protection of environment which is the part of the project and suggestions have also been made to contractors as well as the officials of water resources department to complete the project works in stipulated time. He explained to the Central team what package was given to the displaced tribals of Musurumilli project and about the construction of colonies under Indira Awas Yojana.

He also told them that colonies had been constructed with high quality and basic amenities were provided with the coordination of the government engineering department. He maintained that the cultivation was being encouraged with subsidies by purchasing land for the evacuees near the colonies.

Stating that a study tour had been conducted in China to study the implementation of rehabilitation and resettlement policies, he said that the China government had made arrangements to pay interest on monthly basis by depositing packages of evacuees in insurance schemes and added that the same system had been suggested to the government here in the report submitted.

Reminding that the RR package was being implemented as per the new Land Acquisition Act, he said that nature and organic cultivation was being encouraged through 20 clusters and nutritious food was being supplied to tribal welfare residential schools by purchasing through GCC.

He explained to the Central team that training was being provided to tribal youth through Youth Training Centres with the convergence of the state and the Central governments along with AP Skill Development Corporation and added that placement had been provided to 75 per cent of the youth. After the inspection of Musurumilli main canal at Narsapuram, he told the Central team that 23,000 acres were being irrigated by this project.

Chief engineer, Central Water Commission, R K Pachauri, director , Central Water Commission H K Meena, assistant director CWC Amith Mittal, director, union forest ministry Dr S Karakatta, joint advisor Niti Aayog, Avinash Misra, deputy secretary, Union tribal affairs ministry Rupak Chowdary, senior joint commissioner, ministry of water resources SK Sharma and others were present.