Andhra Pradesh - Anantapur   

Tank revival scheme drags feet

ANANTAPUR: The Indiramma tanks scheme envisaged to revive the traditional water bodies like tanks, feeder channels and stream and in turn improve ground water table and irrigation potential in the district has failed to get a thrust from the officials concerned. The snail’s pace of the scheme has enabled the administration to spend only Rs. 14 crore out of Rs. 91 crore sanctioned for the purpose.

Though 1,598 works were proposed under the highly beneficial scheme to the drought-prone district the executing agencies, panchayat raj and minor irrigation departments, have failed even to prepare estimates for most of the identified works. The engineers concerned have not even visited the selected tanks in several mandals.

Lack of coordination between the executing agencies and the implementing agency, District Water Management Authority, has also been causing the delay in the progress of the scheme.

As per official statistics, only 24 workers were completed and Rs. 14 crore was spent and 47 works were sanctioned recently.

When contacted, the officials concerned stated that most of the works could not be grounded after June last year with good rains received in the district and most of the water bodies selected for the scheme had water till recently. Shadow was cast even on the completed works as the received water in the last rainy season and the quality of quantity of work done was difficult to be measured.

In Roddam mandal, 67 out of 81 sanctioned works were not grounded at all. The grounding of works was also very poor in Pamidi, Gorantla, Nallacheruvu, Chilamatturu, Garladinne, Kanganapalli, Kambaduru, Anantapur and Bathalapalli mandals.

Officials claimed that half each of total money spent so far was paid as wages to labourers under NREGS and for material component.

District Collector N. Sridhar has expressed dissatisfaction over the status of the scheme and warned the engineers concerned against laxity in the implementation of the scheme hitherto.

The scheme was launched with much fanfare on January 8 last year at B.Yaleru in Atmakuru mandal.

The pace of works leaves little hope about spending the funds sanctioned completely at least till the next rainy season.

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