VIJAYAWADA/ RAJAHMUNDRY: Members of the Vamsadhara Tribunal, including Justice Mukunda Sharma, Justice B N Chaturvedi, Justice Ghulam Mohammad and 15 other senior advocates, visited Prakasam Barrage on River Krishna in Vijayawada and Dowleswaram Barrage on River Godavari near Rajahmundry on Friday.
Accompanying the Tribunal members in Vijayawada along with his department’s higher officials, irrigation minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao explained how Prakasam Barrage, located 80 km away from the sea, is helping in channeling the Krishna waters to irrigate 13 lakh acres in the delta and provide drinking water.
Explaining the canal system in place, the minister said this season, there has been no inflows into the barrage from upstream, as there is not enough water in any of the projects on the river. He said to augment the water in the river at the barrage in order to cater to irrigation and drinking water needs of the delta, they have taken up interlinking of rivers and the flood water from Godavari through Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme are being diverted to Krishna river.
The team, accompanied by Krishna delta irrigation chief engineer YS Sudhakar, superintending engineer C Ramakrishna and others, went around the river on a launch provided by APTDC on the occasion.
Later, members of the Tribunal visited Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage at Dowleswaram, near Rajahmundry, where they were briefed about the 160-year-old barrage and its usefulness in the Godavari delta.
They enquired the officials if there is any danger to the villages downstream of the barrage. Irrigation circle superintending engineer Sugunakar Rao, head works executive engineer Tirupati Rao and other officials accompanied the team.