VIJAYAWADA: Asserting that the standard of State-led irrigation suffered severe neglect under the previous regime, Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu on Friday announced a massive `4,500-crore comprehensive master tender to revive, repair, and maintain lift irrigation systems across AP for the next 10 years. The initiative aims to restore permanent irrigation security to over 8.2 lakh acres of agricultural land.
The Minister was speaking at Vedadri village in Jaggayyapeta constituency after formally launching the `15-crore revival and restoration works of the long-defunct Vedadri-Kanchala Lift Irrigation Scheme. Ramanaidu stated that out of 1,023 lift irrigation schemes in the state, a staggering number had broken down under the previous government due to lack of fund allocation, leaving only 166 operational.
He noted that the YSRCP regime spent a meagre `200 crore on operations and maintenance over five years and left behind an accumulated debt of `18,000 crore in the irrigation sector, whereas the alliance government spent `1,200 crore within its first two years alone to stabilise the sector.
The breakdown of these lift schemes effectively cut off water supply to nearly 4 lakh acres of localised ayacut. Ramanaidu noted that the Vedadri-Kanchala scheme had been non-functional since 2021 due to neglect, despite the previous TDP administration spending `5.36 crore on its successful operation between 2014 and 2019.
The newly launched restoration works are being fast-tracked with a deadline to supply irrigation water to 17,366 acres spanning Jaggayyapeta and Nandigama constituencies by the Kharif 2027 season.
He highlighted that while neighbouring states like Telangana, Karnataka, and Tamil Nadu draw substantial revenue from single economic powerhouses like Hyderabad, Bengaluru, and Chennai, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu designed Amaravati as a self-financing project.
Ramanaidu estimated that once fully realised, Amaravati could generate up to `1 lakh crore in annual revenue, which could be utilised to develop all 175 assembly constituencies across the State.