NELLORE: The state government proposes to set up 13 ‘Waste-based Power Plants (WBPPs) - one in each of the 13 districts of the state - which will generate power from wastes and help the municipalities generate some revenue, according to Municipal Administration minister P Narayana.
Disclosing this to newsmen here Sunday, he added that chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu had agreed to sanction `300 cr to `500 cr for each of these WBPPs. He pointed out that such power plants were already being successfully run in China and Japan.
The minister admitted that almost all the civic bodies in the district were facing severe financial crises due to lax tax collections - which averaged only 64 per cent. This meant a proportionate decline in the allocation of the Central funds to the municipalities to take up developmental works, he added.
Narayana, who had earlier reviewed the status of water availability in the various reservoirs in the district, urged the farmers not to go for the cultivation of the second crop as it is not possible to supply water for the same due to the poor water storage in the Somasila reservoir.
He said that the district administration was forced to take this rather ‘painful decision’ as only 31 TMC of water was currently available in the Somasila reservoir.
Of this, 12 TMC would be required to meet the drinking water needs of the people of the district during the peak summer season. He said that the 36 per cent rainfall deficit during the last year’s monsoon had led to this precarious situation.
However, the minister said that the administration was able to supply water to 8.5 lakh acres in the ongoing Kharif season. He added that the government had decided to initiate special steps for supplying water to around 2,500 acres in Venkatchalam, Manubolu, Madamanuru, Sydapuram, Kavali, Chinakraca, Brahmanakraca and Dakkili, areas where the farmers had no water for the crops already sown.
Nellore Mayor Sk Abdul Aziz, joint collector MD Imtiyaz, TDP district president B Ravichandra, former city MLA M Sridhar Krishna Reddy and Telugu Mahila state general secretary T Anuradha were among those who attened the review meeting.