 Online edition of India's National Newspaper Saturday, Nov 01, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version |
|
|
|
| = | |
|
|
|
| Andhra Pradesh |
|
News:
ePaper |
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
Advts: Retail Plus | Classifieds | Jobs |
Andhra Pradesh
The ambitious Jalayagnam is all set to see the State taking a giant leap in foodgrain production and power generation
“He who makes two blades of grass to grow where one grew before, is a benefactor of human race.” This was the guiding principle of Sir Arthur Cotton in implementing his programme of taming the mighty rivers such as the Godavari, Krishna and Cauveri. Now, engineers all over India are looking to Andhra Pradesh with admiration, seeing the results of the massive programme Jalayagnam launched by the State government in 2004 to construct 75 irrigation projects simultaneously with a huge investment of over Rs. 1.3 lakh crores to harness the rivers to the last drop.Continuing the Cotton tradition in a gigantic way, Jalayagnam aims at constructing a number of hydro-electric projects, apart from providing irrigation to an additional area of 1.3 crore acres. The State, till now, could use only 1,700 tmcft (thousand million cubic ft) out of 2,764 tmcft of water available in the Godavari, Krishna, Pennar and Vamsadhara at 75 per cent dependability, and thus covered only 1.28 crore acres with assured irrigation. After completion of Jalayagnam, foodgrain production in Andhra Pradesh will take a giant leap as will power generation. The foodgrain production, which touched 198 lakh tonnes last year and is set cross 200 lakh tonnes this year, will reach a high of 220 lakh tonnes by 2010. Similarly, the hydel projects of Polavaram, Dummagudem, Singareddypalli, Pulichintala, and Nagarjunasagar Tail-Pond, which are also listed in Jalayagnam, will add 2,000 MW of installed capacity to the State grid. Coupled with existing 12,300 MW and another 20,000 MW expected from pipeline projects, this will take the State’s total capacity to an all-time high of 30,000 MW. Longest tunnelThe State is set to achieve several engineering feats under Jalayagnam into which a whopping sum of Rs 35,000 crores has been pumped so far. The world’s longest tunnel (44 km) is being drilled through Nallamala forests to bring Srisailam waters to Nalgonda. Polavaram project is built as three separate dams across the widest part of the Godavari. Canals are excavated for a massive length of 1,000 km under different projects. A whole valley in Prakasam district is going to be filled with Krishna waters drawn from Srisailam under Veligonda project.Some projects that have remained in cold storage for years such as Pulichintala have taken shape finally. A record number of 105 Central clearances have been obtained to implement Jalayagnam. Till date, 12 projects have been completed and water provided to about 16 lakh acres. A plan has been drawn up to complete 16 more projects by June.
Printer friendly
page
News:
ePaper |
Front Page |
National |
Tamil Nadu |
Andhra Pradesh |
Karnataka |
Kerala |
New Delhi |
Other States |
International |
Opinion |
Business |
Sport |
Miscellaneous |
Engagements |
|
|
|
The Hindu Group: Home | About Us | Copyright | Archives | Contacts | Subscription Group Sites: The Hindu | The Hindu ePaper | Business Line | Business Line ePaper | Sportstar | Frontline | Publications | eBooks | Images | Ergo | Home |
Copyright © 2008, The
Hindu. Republication or redissemination of the contents of
this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of
The Hindu
|