Galeru Nagari Sujala Sravanthi works marred by tech glitches

Tirupati: The works of the Galeru Nagari Sujala Sravanthi (GNSS) are moving at a snail pace in the district for the last four years due to technical hurdles and paucity of funds. The state government’s aim is to provide GNSS water to 1.5 lakh acres of farm fields in 10 mandals of the district and supply drinking water to temple city. Three reservoirs to store GNSS water are under construction in Renigunta mandal.

The works of Balaji and Mallimadugu reservoirs are not progressing as expected by the government. The main hurdle for the delay in works is to dig a tunnel for GNSS canal under the hillock area via Seshachalam reserve forest from Railway Kodur to Renigunta mandal for linking the Balaji and Mallimadugu reservoirs.

The officials concerned are facing hardships to get the clearance from the Centre for digging the canal in the reserve forest. Officials of the Water Resource Department have decided to change the present GNSS canal alignment for speeding up the works. According to a source in the Water Resources Department, the present contractor is demanding an additional amount of Rs 50 crore to complete the 4.55 km tank bund works of Mallimadugu.

The same contractor should execute the works of digging 67 km-long irrigation supply channels under the Mallimadugu. But, the contractor reportedly is not cooperating with the officials of the Water Resources Department. Meanwhile, officials have taken a decision to hand over the canal digging works worth Rs 150 crore to another new agency.

The state government fixed a deadline of completing the GNSS phase-2 works by 2012. But, the works are yet to be completed even after 4 years of deadline. The works are also getting delayed due to lack of funds. A senior official in the Water Resources Department said that a proposal with new alignment of GNSS canal was forwarded to the state government for approval so that works can be speeded up.

By K Nethaji