Chief Minister stresses need for linking of rivers

Amaravati: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu said that water is an issue of national concern and all rivers in the north and the south need to be interlinked.

While addressing the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources at his camp office on Friday, which met him to discuss on the progress of ongoing irrigation projects in the state Chief Minister opined that with the linking of rivers the water disputes between states can be prevented and the resources can be managed in a sustainable way.

Highlights:

• Parliamentary Standing Committee on Water Resources Meets CM
• For the first time in the country, it is our government that has taken up linking of Krishna and Godavari rivers and completed Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme, which is providing irrigation water to Krishna basin says Naidu

“It is our government that has taken up linking of Krishna and Godavari rivers and completed Pattiseema lift irrigation scheme, which is providing irrigation water to Krishna basin for the first time in the country” he maintained.

The meeting is a part of a study visit conducted by the Standing Committee on Water Resources in Vijayawada, Visakhapatnam, Chandigarh and Shimla, from August 18 to 23. The committee, chaired by Hukum Singh, comprises 19 members out of which Siddhant Mohapatra, Aparupa Poddar, V. Sathyabama, Ananda Bhaskar Rapolu, Pradeep Tamta, Balwinder Singh Bhunder, A. V. Singh, Harshvardhan Singh Dungarpur attended the meeting.

The water resources minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao and irrigation officials briefed about the progress of Pattiseema, Purushottapatnam lift irrigation schemes and Polavaram project with the committee members.

The meeting was held between officials of Water Resources, Central Water Commission and GoAP to discuss matters regarding Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP), Participatory Irrigation Management (PIM), Command Area Development & Water Management (CAD&WM).

The meeting also discussed the rain water harvesting programme, packing drinking water industry and its effect in the state of Andhra Pradesh.

Chief Minister Naidu explained that every Monday, there is a review meeting dedicated to discussing the progress on Polavaram and other irrigation projects. He assured the members that works of Polavaram project is being completed with utmost priority and speed. He urged them to give complete co-operation for the completion of Polavaram project as per schedule.

He also conducted a virtual inspection of the site, along with the Standing Committee members. “With the help of advanced technology, we are continuously monitoring groundwater and rainfall, and examining with weekly forecasts of soil moisture, rain and others”, he said.

He also stated that ground water levels should be a priority for the nation, and 5 lakh farm ponds (out of a target of 10 lakh ponds) have been sanctioned across Andhra Pradesh to boost groundwater and facilitate irrigation. He announced the targets of one crore acres of horticultural land development and one crore acres of micro-irrigated land in the state, by the end of the fiscal year.

Later the committee members left for the field visit of Polavaram project. They are scheduled to visit Thotapalli Irrigation Project in Vizianagaram district on Saturday. MPs Maganti Venkateswara Rao and Maganti Murali Mohan were also present.