VIJAYAWADA : Minister for Water Resources Nimmala Rama Naidu directed officials to ensure that farmers are not subjected to any inconvenience for want of irrigation water.
Holding a review meeting with top officials of the Water Resources Department on Tuesday, he directed them to take up work in the next 10 days to clean and clear the canals and drains so there will not be any flooding during the rainy season, besides ensuring supply of water to tail-end lands of every canal in the State. “It was former Chief Minister NT Rama Rao, and later Chandrababu Naidu who gave top priority to the irrigation sector keeping in mind the welfare of farmers,” he said.
Rama Naidu said despite budget constraints, top priority is being given to irrigation by the present government, and asked the officials to complete the proposals and estimates and take up repair works at the earliest, so the farmers will not face any problems during the Kharif season. Had the estimates and proposals been submitted in April and tenders finalised in May, by the start of the Kharif season all the repairs would have been completed, he observed.
Instructing the officials to take up strengthening of flood banks of the Godavari River on a war footing, Rama Naidu said all irrigation projects, including Polavaram, were subjected to utter neglect during the previous regime. “Farmers of Godavari delta are thinking of crop holiday, which reflects the sorry state of affairs,” he said.
Special Chief Secretary (Water Resources) G Sai Prasad, Advisor M Venkateswara Rao, Engineer-in-Chief Narayana Reddy and other officials were present.