ONGOLE: Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inspected the progress of feeder canal works of the prestigious Pula Subbaiah Veligonda Reservoir Project near Gantavanipalle in Yerragondapalem constituency of Markapur district on Saturday.
Naidu interacted with farmers and Veligonda project oustees in the agricultural fields near Gantavanipalle. The Chief Minister handed over a cheque for Rs 300 crore to the displaced families towards Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R).
Several farmers became emotional, saying, “We are grateful to the Chief Minister for his commitment to completing the Veligonda Project, which has been our three-decade-old dream.” They urged Naidu to set up food processing units in Markapur for improving their livelihoods.
Veligonda project to change destiny of four districts
Naidu said, “Giving land for the irrigation project is a great sacrifice. Many of you gave up land inherited from your ancestors for this project. The Veligonda Project will change the destiny of four districts in the region. Local people are facing health issues due to high fluoride content in water. Markapur is known as a drought-prone area.”
“The Veligonda Project was conceptualised during former chief minister NT Rama Rao’s tenure. Whenever I visited Prakasam district in 1995, people used to seek execution of the project. Later, we laid the foundation for it,” he said.
The project will cost Rs 10,580 crore. So far, Rs 6,736 crore has been spent, another Rs 3,844 crore need to be allocated for its completion. On rehabilitation of the project oustees, Rs 1,906 crore has been spent against the total requirement of total of Rs 1,932 crore.
“After the NDA government came to power in 2024, we spent Rs 759 crore on the project. Recently, Rs 905 crore was released for the R&R package. Today, we extended Rs 300 crore to 2,351 displaced people,” Naidu said.
