VIJAYAWADA: The Congress has demanded that Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu’s government should hold an all-party meeting at the site of Pattiseema Lift irrigation Scheme (PLIS) to review its feasibility even as it has alleged that the TDP government has taken up the scheme for the sole purpose of getting kickbacks.
Addressing newsmen here on Thursday, APCC vice-president Devineni Rajasekhar (Nehru) lashed out at the TDP government for being insensitive and unmindful of the Krishna Delta farmers’ problems. “The PLIS will in no way help the Krishna Delta farmers. The figures provided by the irrigation minister regarding the availability of water from the PLIS are unrealistic”, he added.
Further elaborating, he said 80 TMCFT of water was supposed to be released into Krishna river from Godavari river through the PLIS during the flood season of 90 days in Godavari. “But going by the figures provided by the Irrigation Minister - i.e., 15,000 cusecs per day -- it will take 9 days for 1 TMCFT of water to reach Krishna river. This means that during the 90-day flood season in Godavari, only 10 TMCFT of its water can be released” he argued.