Water Resources Minister Ambati Rambabu on Saturday allayed the fears of the farmers over the depletion of water in the Obul Reddy Gundlakamma reservoir in the wake of a gate suffering damages.
He said that repairs would be carried out expeditiously during the ongoing kharif season and water ensured to the farmers during the season itself.
Inspecting the project, Mr. Rambabu said, “Farmers coming under the Gundlakamma command area need not worry. If needed, Krishna water will be diverted through the Nagarjunasagar Right Bank Canal to the Gundlakamma reservoir to save the crops.”
The lower part of the third gate was in a bad shape. Nine other gates also needed urgent repairs, he said.
Going by the past experiences, the reservoir could get filled four to five times each year. Fresh inflows could be expected in the months of October and November, he added.
About 25,500 cusecs of water was let out from the reservoir that had no inflow on Saturday. The storage in the reservoir was 1.52 tmc ft against the full capacity of 3.86 tmc ft, a report compiled by the Water Resources Department said.
Meanwhile, Samyukta Kisan Morcha Prakasam district convener Ch. Ranga Rao said it was unfortunate that the YSRCP government did not make allocation for maintenance of major irrigation projects and referred to the Annamayya Dam-induced floods last year.
The government had not arranged branch canals even to this day and, as a result, the farmers were forced to incur additional expenses for lifting water.
“The government should announce as to when it will ensure water to the fields by gravity,” he said.
