Andhra Pradesh - Tirupati   

Jalayagnam grinds to a halt in Chittoor

TIRUPATI: The much-touted ‘Jalayagnam’ works taken up in the semi-arid Chittoor district is said to have come to a grinding halt reportedly due to the mounting arrears payable to the contractors.

According to reports reaching here, about Rs. 400 crore worth of bills payable to the contractors in Chittoor district alone is remaining unpaid leading eventually to the stoppage of work at the project sites. The unpaid bills relate to the three major irrigation projects taken up in the district — Handri-Neeva, Galeru-Nagari and Telugu Ganga.

Sources said that the work on the execution of the three projects were remaining suspended for the last three months putting in cloud the prospects of their going on stream as per the time frame fixed and the financial outlay finalised. The projects under question are supposed to provide irrigation facility to 3.3 lakh acres and drinking water to 7 lakh persons in the drought-prone Chittoor district. Irrigation sources, while confirming the situation, however, assert that all the formalities for the release of the funds were complied with and that the funds were expected any moment now. It is said that though the government had earmarked Rs. 2,600 crore in the fiscal 2008-09 for the three projects, it could not release any funds during the last quarter reportedly due to a severe budget crunch.

Reports further said that there was delay even in the release of funds earmarked for the first quarter of the current fiscal causing a serious concern both to the officials and the contractors concerned.

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