Rs 62,500 crore spent on irrigation projects
VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu has said the State government is planning to increase greenery in the State by 50 per cent from the existing 27 per cent and use minimum 40 per cent renewable energy by 2020. He was speaking after releasing a white paper on ‘Natural Resources Management’, fifth out of the 10 white papers planned by the State government, at the Grievance Hall in Undavalli on Thursday.
He asserted that his government was focusing on creating wealth without disturbing environment and appealed to the people not to pollute the nature. The government has spent Rs 62,500 crore on irrigation projects in the past four-and-a-half-years and provided irrigation facility to 32 lakh acres of land.
He said his government has adopted a three-pronged strategy — water conservation, river linkage (including completion of pending projects in a phased manner) and water management (including micro-irrigation to overcome those deficiencies) — to make AP drought-proof and to provide water to all citizens for drinking, irrigation and industrial needs.
As many as 17 projects were inaugurated, six more are ready for inauguration and works of 26 projects were going on, he said and added that 13 projects would commence soon. He asserted that the government will complete the Polavarm project by 2019.