MARKAPURAM: Fulfilling a three-decade-old dream of residents across the erstwhile Prakasam, Nellore and Kadapa districts, Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu on Monday dedicated Phase-I of the Poola Subbaiah Veligonda Irrigation Project to the nation and advocated major river-linking initiatives like Godavari-Cauvery and Mahanadi-Ganga to ensure water security.
At Gantavanipalli village in Dornala mandal of Markapuram district, the Chief Minister performed special rituals, offered Jala Harathi and unveiled a commemorative pylon to welcome the Krishna waters emerging from the twin tunnels through the Nallamala hills.
In a deeply emotional gesture, as the gravity-diverted waters from the forebay of the Srisailam reservoir flowed through the aqueduct towards Nallamala Sagar, Naidu prostrated on the ground to pay homage to the river before sprinkling the holy water on ministers, officials and public representatives present.
Calling the commissioning of the project a personal and emotional milestone, the Chief Minister recalled that he had laid its foundation stone exactly 30 years ago, on March 5, 1996.
He noted that despite monumental engineering challenges and difficult mountainous terrain, his administration had made a Bhagiratha-like effort to bring Krishna waters to the drought-prone belt. Naidu said the arrival of the waters would erase the word ‘fluorosis’ from the history of western Prakasam.
Govt committed to completing phase II: Naidu
Paying rich tributes to the displaced families of 11 villages who surrendered their land and homes for the project, Naidu asserted that their sacrifices would illuminate the lives of lakhs of people.
Highlighting his administration’s commitment to rehabilitation, he said the government had disbursed `768 crore in compensation to 6,206 evacuee families within 48 days, besides providing an additional `169 crore to resolve pending grievances and financial assistance of `2 lakh each to youth who turned 18 after 2019.
Of the total estimated project cost of `10,200 crore, `7,983 crore has been spent so far on completing Phase-I, which includes 18.8 km of twin tunnels and 21.8 km of feeder canals. Under this phase, 10.70 TMC of water will be impounded in Nallamala Sagar, providing irrigation to 1.19 lakh acres and safe drinking water to four lakh people.
Upon full completion, the project will irrigate 4.47 lakh acres and meet the drinking water needs of 23 lakh people across 30 mandals.
Launching a scathing attack on the previous YSRCP regime, the Chief Minister accused the opposition of staging ‘fake dramas and cinema settings’ by falsely claiming to have dedicated the project to the nation just a month before the elections, despite critical works worth `4,000 crore remaining incomplete.
He alleged that valuable construction time had been wasted during their tenure after a Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) got stuck in the tunnels, delaying the supply of water to the region.
Looking ahead, the Chief Minister announced that the coalition government would take full responsibility for executing the remaining works worth `1,900 crore to complete Veligonda Phase-II by 2028, enabling Markapuram to host the 2028 Krishna Pushkarams.
He reiterated his commitment to completing the Polavaram project by March 2027, finalising an irrigation calendar to execute 36 projects over the next three years and advocating major river-linking initiatives such as Godavari-Cauvery and others.
‘No more fluorosis in western Prakasam’
Naidu said the arrival of the Krishna waters would erase the word ‘fluorosis’ from the history of western Prakasam, offering a new lease of life to generations of families who had long suffered from water scarcity