The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh / Vijayawada News : Release Srisailam water or face stir, warns TDP

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Feb 10, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh - Vijayawada

Release Srisailam water or face stir, warns TDP

By Our Staff Reporter

VIJAYAWADA, FEB.9. The Telugu Desam Party (TDP), on Wednesday, said that it would launch an agitation, if the State Government did not release water from the Srisailam reservoir to prevent further depletion in the water levels of Nagarjunasagar reservoir.

The Nandigama MLA, Devineni Umamaheswara Rao, addressing a press conference here, said the water level in Nagarjunasagar (NS) had depleted to 502.6 feet and this was not sufficient for water to flow into the NS Left and Right canals. Standing crop in Guntur, Prakasam, Nalgonda, Khammam and Krishna district was withering away.

Crops withering away

In Guntur and Prakasam districts, wet and irrigated-dry crops, standing in 8.73 lakh acres, was withering away.

Similarly, in Nalgonda, Khammam and Krishna districts, crop irrigated by the NS Left Canal, standing in 5.78 lakh acres, was drying up. The crops could be saved only releasing water from Srisailam immediately.

Mr. Umamaheswara Rao said that farmers in his Assembly Constituency (Nandigama) could not even give the crop standing in their fields even a single wetting. Though the Engineer-in-Chief, Irrigation & CAD (Projects Wing) Department, recommended that the water level should be maintained at 510 feet throughout February second week in Nagarjunasagar reservoir, the Government allowed its depletion to 502 feet.

The MLA said farmers in Prakasam and Guntur districts were up in arms demanding release of water to NS Right Canal.

The Guntur Collector, in a letter, requested the Government to increase the water being released into the NS Right Canal from the present 1,000 cusecs to 9,000 cusecs and maintain the same till the end of February to protect cotton, chilli, pulses and turmeric standing in 1.28 lakhs hectares.

The TDP would lead Krishna district farmers who wanted to stage a dharna and rasta roko in Tiruvur on Thursday to register their protest. If the State Government did not respond even after that, the party would stall the proceedings of the State Assembly sessions beginning on February 14.

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