Ryots suffer due to delay in canal repair works in Telangana
WANAPARTHY: Despite repeated requests by the farmers, the officials concerned have, reportedly, not taken any measures to repair the Jurala project canals in the district. According to the farmers, this is proving to be a headache for them as they are not getting required quantity of irrigation water. When Express interacted with a few distressed farmers, they said, though they made repeated representations to the authorities, no step has been taken to repair the canals, or remove the silt from them till now.
The farmers claimed that it is because of the accumulation of silt that the canals get damaged every now and then, as a result of which the capacity of the project has also gone down. According to sources, the lands that fall under the last ayacut of the project has not been getting adequate quantity of irrigation water due to this situation. Meanwhile, the farmers also mentioned how Makthal MLA Chittem Ram Mohan Reddy recently visited the project site and took stock of the situation.
Though he found that the canal has developed damages at 54 spots, and directed the officials concerned to take up repair works immediately, his orders have not been implemented yet. Meanwhile, at a time when the authorities are making arrangements to release water into the project in the next one month, the delay in taking up repair and silt-removal works, for which the project officials have sent proposals worth Rs 4 lakh crore to the higher-ups, will affect the farmers whose lands fall under the last ayacut of the project, which include areas like Veepangandla, Chinnambavi, Pebber and Srirangapuram mandals.
In the meantime, sources told Express that the Zilla Parishad (ZP) members also raised the same issue in their recent general body meeting. They urged the authorities to take up silt-removal works from the distributary and subsidiary canals under MGNREGS. They had also passed a resolution on the issue.