Andhra Pradesh   

1.02 cr. acres to come under plough

M. Malleswara Rao

River valleys of Godavari, Krishna, Vamsadhara and Penna are reverberating with roars of machines

BIG DREAMS: Ongoing works at Sripadasagar Project.

Andhra Pradesh launched a massive programme to complete 52 irrigation projects at one go spending a whopping Rs. 1 lakh crore for bringing 1.02 crore acres ayacut under the plough, in the face of questions about the State's capability to mobilise funds and clearances required for these projects.

The State could hardly use 1,700 tmcft out of 2,764 tmcft available from its rivers to cover 1.28 crore acres. But, this was obviously not enough for an agrarian economy like Andhra Pradesh where over 70 per cent of the population depends on farming for their livelihood. It was on this plank that Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy launched the ambitious Jalayagnam, attracting disbelief and even scorn from his detractors.

The Chief Minister's supporters point out that when Nasser of Egypt proposed High Aswan Dam across the Nile, people scoffed thinking it was humanly impossible to contain the mighty river for impounding 1,200 tmcft of water as planned and mobilise funds for the project. China too faced sneer and disdain when it took up Three Gorges Project to harness the Yang Tse, for irrigation and generation of 1,8000 MW power.

The State could successfully secure 80 central clearances covering various aspects of 45 projects that have been grounded. And, river valleys of Godavari, Krishna, Vamsadhara and Penna are reverberating with roars of machines for three years now. Once grounded after funds were mobilised without recourse to World Bank, Jalayagnam placed some tough tasks before engineers - construction of high concrete dams, drilling of tunnels for nearly 100 km through granite hills and excavation of canals for about 1,000 km. But, the technological advances made in the field of heavy machinery came in handy for the Government. While a workforce of 40,000 had to toil for 12 long years on Nagarjunasagar to offer its first benefit, two of the three dams of Veligonda project reached a height of about 300 ft within no time and the Gundlakamma Barrage is ready now.

The mission is partly accomplished as 25 projects have been completed, some partially others fully. In the process, a sum of Rs 19,009 crore was spent out of Rs 36,000 crores committed to contractors.

With works that suffered delay for long years being complete, Sriramsagar I and II contributed to 1.02 lakh acres of the new ayacut. Srisailam Left Bank Canal covered 1.1 lakh acres, Vamsadhara II 24,222 acres, Tadipudi and A rubber dam has been imported from Austria and fixed across the Janjhavathi to serve 13,210 acres in the arid zones of far-flung Vizianagaram district. Once completed, Jalayagnam will ensure full utilisation of 1,480 tmcft allocated to the State from the Godavari against the 700 tmcft being used at present. An inter-basin transfer is to be made through Dummagudem-Nagarjunasagar Tailpond project to help the deficit Krishna river using the surplus Godavari.

The Government has not resorted to overdraft even for a single day despite huge budget on the projects - Rs. 19,000 crores spent during the first three years and an allocation of Rs. 13,500 crores for the current financial year.

Food grain production

When completed, the projects are likely to help increase the annual food grain production to 200 lakh tonnes from the present 160-lakh tonnes.

Several projects are, however, dogged by controversies either over financial irregularities in the award of contracts or the inadequate relief and rehabilitation packages to the affected families. In the hurry to complete pending irrigation projects, the State has attracted other troubles too.

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