ONGOLE : Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Wednesday inaugurated the 18.82-km-long twin tunnels of Poola Subbaiah Veligonda Project at Yeguvacherlopalli village in Dornala mandal of Prakasam district and dedicated them to the nation.
Addressing a public meeting, the Chief Minister expressed happiness over inaugurating the project for which his father and former Chief Minister late Dr Rajasekhara Reddy had laid the stone in 2004.
“I am indebted to God for giving me the opportunity to fulfill the two-decade-old dream and aspiration of the people in the region. It is a God-written script that I have completed the work that began during my father’s time,” he noted.
Elaborating on the project, Jagan said the total length of the two tunnels is around 37 km. The project, built with Rs 10,010.54 crore, will draw 43.50 TMC of floodwater from the foreshores of the Srisailam Project Reservoir through Kollam Vagu and a feeder canal and store it in the Nallamala (Veligonda) Sagar Reservoir that has a capacity of 53.85 TMC of water.
The project will irrigate 4.47 lakh acres and provide drinking water to 15.25 lakh fluoride-affected people in the drought-prone areas of 23 mandals in Prakasam, five in Nellore and two in Kadapa districts, the Chief Minister explained. It will solve drinking water problems of people in Yerragondapalem, Darsi, Kanigiri, Udayagiri, Atmakuru, Giddaluru and Budvel constituencies, he said.
While stage-one of the project’s distributor canal will irrigate 1,19,000 acres, stage-two canal will supply irrigation water to 3,28,300 acres. The project will provide 2.25 TMC drinking water to 1,657 villages in seven Assembly constituencies of Prakasam district through the water grid scheme, while another 2.58 TMC water will be supplied from the Nallamala Sagar Reservoir to the mega industrial hub, which will be established by the APIIC (AP Industrial Infrastructure Corporation) Donakonda in Prakasam district.
Another 1.27 TMC water will be supplied to the National Investment and Manufacturing Zone (NIMZ) being set up in Pamuru and Peda Cherlopalle mandals in Prakasam district.
Rs 1,294 cr input subsidy given to 11.61 lakh farmers
CM Jagan released Rs 1,294.58 crore as input subsidy to 11,61,000 farmers, who suffered crop loss due to drought and Cyclone Michaung in 2023. Of the total Rs 1,294.58 crore, Rs 847 crore is paid as input subsidy to 6,96,000 farmers hit by drought in 103 mandals of seven districts, while the rest is provided to 4,61,000 ryots, who suffered crop loss due to Michaung Cyclone
Govt needs to spend Rs 1.2k cr on land, R&R
Lashing out at the previous regime, the Chief Minister said, “After the launch of the project in 2004, construction for 20 km of the tunnels was completed by 2014. However, the works progressed at a snail’s pace during the TDP rule which completed only 6.6 km till 2019. In a record time, we finished construction for the remaining 11 km of the tunnels.”
Further, he pointed out that the government will have to spend Rs 1,200 crore on land acquisition and R&R (Rehabilitation and Resettlement) package for filling the reservoir, which will be completed by July or August.
Later, the Chief Minister introduced the party’s candidates from the district to the people and called on them to bring YSRC to power again with a good majority.