VISAKHAPATNAM: FORMER minister Konathala Ramakrishna demanded allocation of `5,000 crore to Babu Jagjeevanram Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi irrigation project which has been hanging fire for the past seven years. He asked the government to invite tenders to start the project works.
To facilitate irrigation in Visakhapatnam, Vizianagaram and Srikakulam districts with the Godavari water, former chief minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy laid foundation of the project at Sabbavaram in 2009. The project’s aim is to provide water to 3.21 lakh acres in Visakhapatnam district, 3.94 acres in Vizianagaram district and 85,000 acres in Srikakulam district. The total project cost is estimated at `7,214 crore for which the government had given administrative clearances. The project was stalled in K Rosaiah, N Kiran Kumar Reddy and present Chandrababu Naidu governments.
Protesting the negligence, Ramakrishna and a large number of farmers staged a dharna at Sabbavaram on Tuesday. He remembered that the TDP had promised in its poll manifesto that the party would complete the project on priority. Even after completion of two years in power, the government did not allocate funds to the project, he said. In order to bring pressure on the government Uttarandhra Sujala Sravanthi Sadhana Samithi would be set up to achieve the project, Ramakrishna said.