VIJAYAWADA: The foundation stone for the first phase of the much-touted Godavari-Penna rivers interlinking project will be laid by Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday. The ceremony will be held in Nekarikallu mandal of Guntur district, where the Godavari water from Krishna basin would be lifted to Nagarjuna Sagar Jawahar canal.
The project, once finished, is expected to put an end to the woes of the farmers of Guntur and Prakasam districts, who have been bearing the brunt of successive droughts. Three years after completing the first interlinking project (Krishna-Godavari rivers), the officials said the State government is embarking on another project, envisaging to divert 3,000 TMC of water to the parched lands of Rayalaseema districts, which are frequently hit by drought.
While the entire project will be completed in five phases, the first phase is designed to divert about 73 TMC of Godavari water — which reaches Prakasam Barrage through Pattiseema and Chintalapudi lift irrigation schemes — to the Nagarjuna Sagar Right Main Canal during 120 flood days. “The diversion will be done in five steps by laying 10.25 km pipeline from Krishna river, a gravity canal at a stretch of 56.35 km and using five lifts,” officials explained.
The first lift will be set up at Harischandrapuram, second at Lingapuram, third lift at Vyyandana, fourth lift at Gangireddypalem and the fifth one at Nekirekalul. “By bringing Godavari water upto Nekarikallu, from where it will be pumped to Nagarjuna Sagar Jawahar Canal, over 9.61 lakh acres of both Guntur and Prakasam districts will be stabilised,” they said.
While the five phases of the project are expected to cost close to Rs 84,000 crore, the first phase is estimated to cost Rs 6,020 crore. In the second phase, a gravity canal will be constructed at a length of 256 km to divert Godavari water to Nagarjuna Sagar Jawahar Canal. The third phase would involve construction of a gravity canal from NS Jawahar Canal to Somasila Reservoir. A reservoir will be constructed in the fourth phase at Bollapalli to store 150 TMC. In the fifth stage, lining of the canals will be completed. The second, third, fourth and fifth phases are expected to cost Rs 19,051 cr, Rs 31,126 cr, Rs 15,031 cr and Rs 13,470 cr respectively.
Money matters
Rs 84,000 crore: Estimated cost of the project
Rs 6,020 crore: Cost of the first phase of the project