Minister for Revenue, Stamps and Registration Dharmana Prasada Rao on Friday said that the Vamsadhara phase-2 project would be ready within four months as the government was giving top priority to its early completion.
He said that the government had sanctioned ₹170 crore for the lift irrigation project to utilise 19 TMC of water from the Gotta barrage. He hoped that the Neradi barrage would also be a reality very soon as the government was trying to resolve pending issues with Odisha which has to okay land acquisition within its jurisdiction.
Speaking to The Hindu, the Minister said that the Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy had put sincere efforts to resolve the dispute with Odisha and he referred to Mr. Jagan Mohan Reddy’s meeting with his counterpart Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar one year ago.
Reacting over the recent visit of former Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu to the project site, the Minister said that Mr. Naidu had no right to visit any project in the State as he had given little importance to irrigation in both tenures during 1995-2004 and 2014-2019.
“Although Srikakulam is one of the backward districts, Mr. Naidu had never given priority to the second phase of the Vamsadhara project. He had also not put any effort to get the consent from Odisha which had filed many cases in the Supreme Court,” said Mr. Prasada Rao, who took the initiative for the project by giving a report to the then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy.
Mr. Prasada Rao said that an offshore project being constructed at Tekkali division was sanctioned ₹800 crore by YSRCP government. “Instead of putting efforts for optimum utilisation of water resources, Mr. Naidu tried to misuse funds by proposing Bahuda-Vamsadhara linkage project just before the 2019 general elections. It was shelved after the YSRCP came to power in the State. Otherwise, over ₹60,000 crore funds could have been misused,” he added.
The Minister exuded confidence that Srikakulam would witness speedy development after the completion of the Mulapeta seaport in Tekkali division. He said that he would be ready for discussion in the legislature over the issues of Srikakulam district.
