Chandrababu Naidu exempts 20K acres from Kolleru lake

Amaravati: With an eye on general elections, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu provided huge benefits to aqua farmers in Kolleru Lake area by exempting about 20,000 acres from Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary limits.

In a review meeting on Kolleru lands held at the Secretariat on Thursday, Naidu asked the officials to exempt 5,600 acres of D-Patta lands and 15,000 acres of Ziroyiti lands from Kolleru Wildlife Sanctuary limits.

Naidu directed the officials to carry out the land exemption limits without deviating from the Supreme Court’s orders. The decision of government to exempt the lands falling in third contour to fifth contour in the wildlife sanctuary zone will bring great relief to local farmers and fishermen.

Other key issues like protection of forests around Kolleru, development of a drainage systems and promoting Kolleru as a prime tourist destination were also discussed in the meeting attended by senior officials from environment and forest departments.

Apart from providing satisfaction to residents of the region, it was also our duty to preserve environment and eco-system around the Kolleru lake and wildlife sanctuary, Naidu said.

He directed the officials to take all necessary steps to preserve the lake. To ensure this, he ordered the officials to enable a continuous flow of Godavari water into the lake.

The officials were also asked to take all necessary steps to ensure that drainage system will function smoothly and there are no problems in the inflow of water.

The Chief Minister directed the officials to immediately start works on construction of regulators at Kottada and resumption of regulator construction works near Chinnagopalam.

To ensure that all the works are going on at a rapid pace, Naidu said that he will conduct regular inspections for every 15 days and directed the officials to immediately set up a Special Purpose Vehicle for development of Kolleru region along with appointing an additional RDO for overseeing the developmental works in the adjoining regions.

In a move that will boost the tourism at Kolleru Lake and Wildlife Sanctuary, Naidu asked the officials to immediately identify all the approach routes to lake and sanctuary and complete all kinds of necessary repair works to them.

Stating Kolleru has immense potential in becoming number one tourist destination in the state, Naidu asked the officials to make all necessary efforts to preserve the rare animal and bird species and develop resorts around the lake to attract more tourists.

Naidu also met the local farmers at the CM Grievance Hall where they thanked him on his decision to exempt lands from falling in the Wildlife Sanctuary and Lake Zone. Naidu said he will do everything to ensure that Kolleru will be developed as a tourism hub so that the locals will have more ways to generate revenue.