The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Irrigation projects will be completed: Ponnala

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Monday, Mar 28, 2005

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Irrigation projects will be completed: Ponnala

By Our Staff Reporter

NELLORE, MARCH 27. The Minister for Major Irrigation, Ponnala Lakshmaiah, has said that construction of irrigation projects will go on, notwithstanding the hue and cry being raised by a section of the Opposition.

He told reporters on Sunday that the Government was keen on completing 31 irrigation projects at an estimated cost of Rs. 46,000 crores in two years. He criticised the tendency of the Opposition to attribute motives even after courts had cleared the projects.

"When agriculture is the mainstay of 70 per cent of the population, the Government has to naturally concentrate its energies on this sector," he asserted. Stating that the attention of the Government could never be diverted and that there would be no complacency in respect of finishing the projects in time, he indicated that steps would be taken to assure full storage capacity to Somasila and Kandaleru reservoirs in the district, besides completing the remaining branch canals of the Telugu Ganga Project.

Later, at a review meeting, he directed officials and engineers at the Kandaleru dam site that the land acquisition process pertaining to the project be completed at the earliest. The Minister was unhappy that even small issues like routine permission from departments like R & B were pending for the last 10 months.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Andhra Pradesh