Interlinking of rivers is gamechanger for AP: CM

Vijayawada, Dec 31 (Representative) Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Mr Chandrababu Naidu, on Monday made it clear that his life ambition is shifting of the Godavari waters to Banakacherla and felt that once this is complete it will be a gamechanger for Andhra Pradesh. Making a PowerPoint presentation on shifting the Godavari waters to Banakacherla, the Chief Minister felt that once the project is complete the state will totally come out of drought. The future generations will not face any kind of water scarcity once the interlinking of rivers is over, Naidu opined. Stating that water conservation is given the highest priority in the 10 points mentioned in Swarnandhra Vision-2047 document, the Chief Minister recalled that till the TDP founder, the late NT Rama Rao, became the chief minister of the state, no leader thought of supplying water to Rayalaseema. An agreement was entered into in the presence of the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi, in which Mr NT Rama Rao agreed to supply water through Telugu Ganga from Srisailam to Tamil Nadu, he recalled. Observing that Polavaram was declared a national project during the state bifurcation in 2014 by the then Union government, Chandrababu said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had issued an ordinance merging seven mandals with Andhra Pradesh only when he made it clear that he would not take oath as the Chief Minister unless these seven mandals are allotted to the State. About irrigation, NT Rama Rao had a foresight, Chandrababu said and added that he had laid the foundation to Velugonda and completed the Thotapalli project in North Andhra. The main objective behind the project is to utilise 300 TMC feet of water of the Godavari from the 3,000 TMC feet that are going waste, the Chief Minister said and felt that once the project is complete drinking water will be provided to 80 lakh people and 7.5 lakh acres will come under irrigation. “We have formulated plans to complete the Banakacherla project in three phases. During the first phase, water will be diverted from Polavaram to the Krishna river, in the second phase Bollapalli reservoir will be built and water will be shifted and in the third phase water will be shifted from Bollapalli reservoir to Banakacherla,” he added.

The Godavari water will be shifted to the Krishna river from where the water will be diverted to the Bollapalli reservoir through the Nagarjunasagar Right Bank canal and from there to Bankacherla headregulator, the Chief Minister explained. He is confident that once the project is complete Rayalaseema will certainly turn into Ratanalaseema (land of diamonds). Also, water can be supplied to Nellore through the Pennar River and the entire drought can be controlled in Prakasam district after completing the Veligonda project, Chandrababu said. Chandrababu said North Andhra is facing water scarcity despite experiencing heavy rainfall while farming is seriously hit in Rayalaseema, Prakasam and Nellore districts due to drought. Recalling that Anantapur once recorded the lowest per capita income, the Chief Minister said that the per capita income reached to four to five per cent after the TDP Government started encouraging horticulture. Expressing concern that on average every year over 3,000 TMC feet of the Godavari water has been flowing into the sea for the past 50 years, the Chief Minister said that the water could be saved now as the rainy water is pumped into the reservoirs on time. If rivers are interlinked and reservoirs are built wherever necessary, the State will never face any kind of water scarcity, Mr Chandrababu observed. The state Government is seriously contemplating completing the project in a hybrid system through private partnership besides Central and State funds, Chandrababu Naidu said and stated that he had already discussed the issue with the Union Finance Minister, Mrs Nirmala Seetharaman. “We will complete the Detailed Project Report (DPR) in a couple of months and tenders will be called. If funds are provided ontime the project will be completed in three years,” the Chief Minister maintained.