The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Azad to take up Pulichintala clearance issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Nov 21, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Azad to take up Pulichintala clearance issue

By Our Special Correspondent

VIJAYAWADA, NOV. 20. The Union Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and Urban Areas Development, Ghulam Nabi Azad, has said that he "will personally take up" with the Union Ministry of Environment the issue pertaining to the Pulichintala project and ensure that all the clearances were obtained.

Allaying apprehensions about the Andhra Pradesh Government's ambitious plans of completing all the pending irrigation projects in the next five years, the Union Minister has announced that the Central Government will take a ``pro-active'' stance towards the projects announced by the State Government.

Addressing a gathering of Krishna delta farmers in front of the Collector's Camp Office here today, the Union Minister reiterated the commitment of the Congress Governments in the State and at the Centre to fulfil the promises it made before the elections. "It is heartening to see good attempts being made by the Andhra Pradesh Government to fulfil its assurances by making the completion of irrigation projects a priority area and increasing the budgetary allocation by 200 to 300 per cent," he said. The allocation, which was around Rs. 1,300 crores during the previous year, had been increased to Rs. 3,500 crores this year.

This showed the commitment of the Congress Government to complete the irrigation projects, he asserted.

Crisis in delta

The Chief Minister, Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, earlier expressed concern that the 150-year-old Krishna delta was facing a crisis situation in the matter of getting irrigation water.

"Though some people are trying to create obstacles for taking up works on irrigation projects for political ends, we are committed to completing the Pulichintala and Polavarm projects in the interests of the delta farmers," he said.

In this context, he said that works on a majority of projects that had been commissioned in the past 50 years were taken up without obtaining environmental clearances.

"But it is unfortunate that environmental clearance has become an impediment in taking up the works on the Pulichintala project," he said, asserting that the Government was committed to taking the necessary steps to complete the projects.

Water for second crop?

Referring to the demand pertaining to water for the second crop in the Krishna delta, the Chief Minister said that the Government was considering different options as to whether release water for the second crop or save it to ensure timely release during the first crop next season.

"We are working out all the modalities and are committed to taking a decision in the interest of the farmers," he said.

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