VIJAYAWADA: Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will lay the foundation stone for aquaculture university and fishing harbour at Biyyapu Tippa and lay foundation stones for a slew of development projects in West Godavari district on Monday. The total cost of the 15 development projects to be launched by the Chief Minister is Rs 2,717 crore. Narasapuram, an important municipality in West Godavari district, will witness a sea change in development with the completion of all the projects.
Aquaculture university, which is a long pending demand of people of West Godavari, will be finally set to become a reality. The university will be set up at an estimated cost of Rs 332 crore. With the fast-expanding aquaculture sector in the State, there is an increasing demand for trained personnel. According to an estimate, the sector needs 11,901 diploma holders in fisheries, 6,118 BFSc graduates and 2,541 MFSc graduates.
At present, Tamil Nadu and Kerala have aquaculture universities. The proposed university in Andhra Pradesh will be the third one in the country. It will be constructed at Biyyapu Tippa on 350 acres in two phases. The aquaculture sector in the State stands to benefit more with the setting up of the university and in monetary terms the benefit will be around Rs 5,000 crore per annum.
The fishing harbour at Biyyapu Tippa will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 429.43 crore on 150 acres. Once constructed, the harbour will facilitate movement and mooring for vessels capable of deep water fishing. The harbour located 14 km from Narasapuram will benefit 6,000 fishermen from Narasapuram and Mogalathur.
The Chief Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the regulator on Uppateru at Mollaparru. The regulator is vital to prevent sea water intrusion into Kolleru lake, one of the largest naturally formed lakes in the country. The regulator will ensure that normal water is stored up to 5th contour of the lake. The estimated cost of the regulator-cum-bridge-cum lock is Rs 188.40 crore.
The other projects to be launched by the Chief Minister include Narasapuram bus station to be renovated at a cost of Rs 4 crore, sub- treasury office building to be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 1.08 crore, 220/132/33 KV substation to be set up at Rustumbad at an estimated cost of Rs 132.81 crore, safe drinking water project for the undivided West Godavari district at an estimated cost of Rs 1,400 crore.
The project will provide potable drinking water to 1,178 habitations, benefiting 17.85 lakh people in the district. The Centre and the State government will equally share the total project cost.Foundation stones will also be laid for underground drainage works in Narasapuram municipality at cost of Rs 87 crore, development works of Vashishta Varadhi-Buddigavani Revu at a cost of Rs 26.32 crore, modernisation of Seshavatharam irrigation canal to be taken up at an estimated cost of Rs 7.83 crore, Mogalthur weir at a cost of Rs 24.01 crore, works pertaining to Kaja, East Kokkileru and Muskepalem outfall sluices at a cost of Rs 8.8 crore and regional hospital at a cost of Rs 13 crore.
Jagan will also inaugurate a drinking water scheme for Narasapuram, for which Rs 61.81 crore was sanctioned. About 1 lakh people in Narasapuram stand to benefit from the scheme for the next 30 years.