VIJAYAWADA: Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao has said the department will bring over 200 tmc of Godavari water to Krishna basin from next year.Interacting with the media here on Sunday, the minister explained that 262 tmc of Godavari water was diverted to Krishna basin since 2015 through Pattiseema. “This year along, close to 2,429 tmc of Godavari water went into the sea and we were able to use only around 10 per cent of it in 3.5 years. We will bring over 200 tmc by this time next year through gravity from Polavaram. After using the water required for Krishna delta, we will divert it to Nagarjuna Sagar Right Canal through the lifting schemes that will be installed for the Godavari-Penna interlinking project,” he said. The installation of radial gates at Polavaram project would begin from December 17.
He also said that the department would give the adminis trative sanction to Vamsadhara-Bahuda river interlinking project and float the tenders shortly.The Water Resources department is focusing on interlinking of rivers with an aim to make the State drought-proof through effective water management. He said the government was spending over Rs 2,300 crore in the north coastal districts on various irrigation projects. “On one hand, we are spending Rs 60 crore on Vamsadhara-Nagavali interlinking project and Nagavali, Vedavathi, Champavathi and Gosthani rivers are being integrated on the other. Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Vamsadhara-Bahuda interlinking is ready and we will soon invite tenders after getting administrative sanction,” he added.
Devineni Uma said that the department was taking measures to protect the standing Rabi crop as there was 35 per cent deficit rainfall.The Minister also slammed Opposition Leader YS Jagan Mohan Reddy for criticising the government regarding various irrigation projects. He fumed that the YSRC chief’s behaviour did not change even after going to prison. “Because of your corruption, you went to the prison. Even gold medallist IAS officials went to jail because of you. Yet, you talk about ethics and corruption-free government,” he slammed Jagan.