Priority for Veligonda project, says Nimmala

Minister for Water Resources Development Nimmala Ramanaidu has made it clear that the government is giving priority to the Veligonda Project and it is keen to complete it at the earliest.
The Minister accompanied by Ministers Dola Balaveeranjaneya Swamy, Gottipati Ravi Kumar, MP Magunta Srinivasulu Reddy and Collector Thameem Ansariya visited the Veligonda project on Tuesday. He inspected the works in the tunnel and the engineers explained to him the progress of the works.
Talking to the media in Markapuram, Nimmala Ramanaidu said that the NDA-led State Government, after the Polavaram project, is giving priority to the Veligonda project.
The Minister said that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu ordered to finalisation of the schedule to provide irrigation and drinking water to the people of the Prakasam district by completing the stalled works like head works, two tunnels, feeder channel and lining in phase-1 of the Veligonda project.
“If the construction of the Veligonda project is completed, 4.5 lakh acres will be irrigated and 22 lakh people will get drinking water. In 1996, the then Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the Veligonda project. The project works will be completed soon,” he said, adding that Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu will dedicate the project to the people and release water from the project, after its completion.
The then TDP-led government during 2014-19 had allocated Rs 1373 crore for the Veligonda project works of which Rs 1,319 crore had been spent. Unfortunately, the Jagan Reddy-headed government had allocated Rs 3,000 crore for the project works but had spent a paltry Rs 170 crore, the Minster criticized. Many construction works of the Veligonda project remain incomplete due to the indifference of the erstwhile YSRCP government, he lamented.
“Even before completing many works of the project, the then Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy dedicated the project to the people in a hurry, keeping in view the elections,” he slammed. The government has to allocate Rs 980 crore every year for the Veligonda project; construction works by the YSRCP government had allocated only Rs 225 crore during the five-year tenure
The Minister explained that the head works and wall works of Veligonda project were not yet completed and 1.20 lakh cubic meters of soil had to be removed, adding that during the previous government’s tenure, 11 km of lining work took several years and 6.8 km of works are yet to be carried out. The Government had to release Rs 880 crore for the R&R package but the YSRCP government did not release the money, he regretted.
“Under the Veligonda project, 11 villages will be submerged in the backwaters and the villagers to be shifted to the rehabilitation centres after constructing five colonies for them. but the YSRCP government did not take steps to construct the colonies,” Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu lashed out.
Minister for Energy Gottipati Ravikumar and Social Welfare Minister Bala Veeranjaneya Swamy also spoke. MLAs Damacharla Janardhan Rao, K Narayana Reddy, BN Vijay Kumar, M Narasimha Reddy, M Ashok Reddy and Lanka Dinakar were among those who accompanied the Minister.