Ongole: The Pula Subbaiah Veligonda project, which is at a crucial place, would play an important role in the interlinking of Godavari, Krishna and Penna rivers to develop the drought-prone and backward areas like the western part of the Prakasam district.

The visions, Swarnandhra 2047 by Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu and Viksit Bharat 2047 by Prime Minister Narendra Modi discuss river linking as a strategic plan to eliminate drought permanently, and to ensure clean drinking water for the public, address the irrigation and industrial needs.

To achieve river linking perfectly, the government should construct a number of reservoirs and canals between the rivers, which require money and time. The Veligonda project, which is said to be the lifeline of the Western area of Prakasam district, Badvel area in Kadapa district, Atmaku-ru and Udayagiri areas in Nellore district, has a full capaci-ty of 53.85 tmcft. The reservoir may be filled with water by gravity, whenever a good flood arrives in the Srisailam reservoir.

A senior leader in the Bharatiya Janata Party from Prakasam district, and chairman of the 20-Point Pro-gramme Implementation Committee, Lanka Dinakar, who has extensively toured the district and has great knowledge, submitted to the Chief Minister on January 1, 2025, that they required to construct big, medium and small reservoirs at strategic locations to transport the wa-ter from the rivers to the far off villages and towns, and also to improve the groundwater levels.

He suggested to the Chief Minister to consider the almost complete Veligonda project as the ready resource and strategic point in the river linking the State.

In an interaction programme on March 8, during his trip to Markapuram, Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu an-nounced that Krishna river water would be transferred to Penna river by linking the Veligonda reservoir to the Banakacherla regulator, and help a major part of the Rayalaseema come out from drought conditions. With this announcement from the Chief Minister, the locals are very excited that the Veligonda project will be completed at last, and they will get water for safe drinking and irrigation needs.