SRIKAKULAM: The hopes of Uddanam farmers are on rise as the Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy will visit the Srikakulam district as part of the ‘Memantha Siddham’ bus tour on Wednesday.
The farmers of the region are pinning their hopes, expecting an announcement on the Vamsadhara-Bahuda River Interlinking High-Level Canal Project.
The project is expected to water at least 1.30 lakh acres in 16 mandals and also strengthen the already irrigated ayacut of 1.40 lakh acres in the district.
It may be recalled that the TDP Government, led by N Chandrababu Naidu, sanctioned the Vamsadhara-Bahuda River Interlinking High-Level Canal Project with an estimated cost of `6,326 crore under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefits Programme (AIBP) and finalised the tenders. However, the ruling YSRC government cancelled the tenders in the name of ratification. Ever since, the fate of the project has been in a limbo. Therefore, the farmers in the region are expecting an announcement from CM YS Jagan during his election campaign in the district.
Although the district consists of several rivers such as Vamsadhara, Nagavali, Mahendra Tanaya, and Bahuda, Srikakulam is one of the underdeveloped districts in terms of irrigation facilities.
The State government's apathy in the irrigation projects followed by legal disputes in water sharing with the Odisha State has forced the local farmers to vie for the irrigation water for the past five decades. Further, the State government's negligence on the Vamsadhara project forced the farmers to migrate to other States in search of livelihood.
The River Vamsadhara, which originated in the Kalahandi district, flows 154 km in Odisha and another 82 km in Andhra Pradesh before joining the Bay of Bengal.
In order to utilise the waters for internal irrigation, the State government penned a proposal to construct a Barrage at Neradi village in Bhamini mandal to irrigate over 2.5 lakh acres and also to store 18 TMC water in storage reservoirs at Hiramandalam village.
The then Chief Minister Damodaram Sanjeevayya laid the foundation stone and initiated the project works in 1962. However, the Odisha government raised objections to the construction of the Neradi Barrage, after which the State government changed its plans and decided to construct a Barrage at Gotta village under the Hiramandalam mandal with 1.5 TMC storage capacity under the BRR Vamsadhara Project Stage-1.
Stage-1 works were completed in 1977, comprising a length of 104.825 km Left Main Canal (LMC) to irrigate nearly 1,48,230 acres in 398 villages of 12 mandals in Srikakulam. During the same time, the State government appealed in the Supreme Court for clearance to construct the Neradi Barrage. The Supreme Court constituted the Vamsadhara Water Dispute Tribunal (VWDT) under the chairmanship of Justice Dr Mukundakam Sharma to solve the Neradi Barrage issue between Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.
Later, the Congress government led by YS Rajasekhar Reddy sanctioned Vamsadhara Project Phase-2 of Stage-2 works under Jala Yagnam scheme, planning to utilise at least 18 TMC flood water out of 100 TMC, which goes unutilised into the Bay of Bengal every year. Additionally, YSRC also sanctioned a reservoir with a storage capacity of 18 TMC at Hiramandalam, and a side weir at Katragadda to divert flood water from the river to the reservoir upstream of Neradi village, and a 32 KM length flood water canal from the side weir to the reservoir. In the aftermath of State bifurcation, the TDP government, led by Chandrababu Naidu completed the Vamsadhara Project Phase-2 of Stage-2 works in 2018. However, the Hiramandalam reservoir is receiving only 2 to 4 TMC water through the flood flow canal, resulting in a lack of water availability for the Kharif season.
After several visits to the Neradi and Vamsadhara Projects, the VWDT gave its verdict to utilise 115 TMC of water on a 50:50 ratio basis to both Odisha and Andhra Pradesh in 2017. Further, the VWDT accorded permission to the State government for the construction of the Neradi Barrage across the river Vamsadhara and directed the government to construct the barrage with the right sluice (water channel).
Further, the VWDT also instructed the Odisha government to acquire 106 acres of land for the barrage and compensation for the land from the State government. In turn, Odisha can utilise its share of water through the left sluice for their irrigation needs. However, the Odisha government has been allegedly delaying the land acquisition of 106 acres, postponing the construction of the Neradi Barrage.
Therefore, the previous TDP government decided to construct the Vamsadhara-Bahuda River Interlinking High-Level Canal Project. The project was designed to irrigate at least 1.30 lakh acres of land in the 16 mandals besides giving water for two crop seasons in another 1.40 lakh acres of land in the district. Palasa, Sompeta, Kaviti, Kanchili, Ichapuram, Mandasa, and Vajrapukotturu mandals in the Uddanam region will benefit from the project as there are no alternative water resources to these mandals.
Speaking to TNIE, Vamsadhara Jala Sadhana Committee convener Dr Pradhana Sivaji said, “The farmers of the region have been facing severe difficulties as the Odisha government constructed several lift irrigation projects on the Bahuda and Mahendra Tanaya rivers. However, the Vamsadhara-Bahuda river linking project can make the region drought-free. We have met CM YS Jagan several times about this project. I hope he will announce a good decision about the fate of this project in the district tour.”