West Godavari District Collector Chadalavada Nagarani has instructed revenue and irrigation officials to prepare the list of territorial constituencies for the upcoming elections to the Water Users’ Associations (WUAs). At a meeting held on Thursday with officials from the Revenue and Irrigation Departments, the Collector reviewed the steps needed to ensure a smooth election process for the WUAs in the district.
Collector Nagarani noted that the last WUA elections were held in 2015, and the new elections are scheduled for 2024. As part of the preparations, Tehsildars and Assistant Engineers (AEs) have been appointed as authorised officers in the respective mandals.
The election process began on October 21 and will conclude on November 29. The Collector urged revenue and irrigation officials to work together to prepare voter lists based on territorial constituencies and revenue records. She also directed the Revenue Divisional Officers (RDOs) to provide proper training to lower-level staff on election procedures.
She explained that under the project committee, there are 20 water distribution committees, with 14 located in West Godavari, four in Eluru, and two in East Godavari districts. The election notification has been issued for a total of 112 Water Users’ Associations—98 major irrigation and 14 minor irrigation associations.
Each of the 98 major irrigation WUAs will elect 12 members, while each of the 14 minor irrigation WUAs will elect six members, making a total of 1,260 members across the constituencies.
Collector Nagarani emphasized the importance of ensuring that no eligible voter is left out of the list. A gazetted officer will be appointed as the election officer for each WUA, with additional polling officers and assistant polling officers handling the election process. The Tahsildars in each mandal will oversee the entire election process.
The preparation of landowners’ and voters’ lists will take place from November 6 to 10, and objections to the voter list will be received on November 11 and 12. These objections will be addressed on November 13, with the final voter list announced the same day. Elections for water distribution societies are scheduled to be held between November 24 and 26, while elections for the project committees will take place between November 27 and 29.
Joint Collector T Rahul Reddy, DRO J Uday Bhaskar, District Irrigation Officer P Nagarjuna Rao, and other officials attended the meeting.
