నీటి పారుదల ప్రాజెక్టులు : కోస్తా రైతుల ఆందోళన

 నీటి పారుదల ప్రాజెక్టులు : కోస్తా రైతుల ఆందోళన-----
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Even as the angry protests over the bifurcation of the state are gaining momentum, farmers in the coastal region are expressing apprehensions about the fate of the irrigation projects and water allocations. The division of the state, according to farmers leaders, would lead to intense water wars in future. With both the Godavari and Krishna rivers reaching the deltas in Andhra region after winding their way through several districts in Telangana region, farmers fear that granting separate Telangana in the upper region would be a major threat to their crops. While nearly 20 lakh acres is under cultivation in Godavari delta spreading across East and West Godavari and part of Krishna districts, 14 lakh acres fall under Krishna delta in Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam districts. Another 10 lakh acres is being covered under Nagarjunasagar right canal ayacut in Guntur and Prakasam districts.

According to irrigation experts, the Bachawat Tribunal had allocated Krishna waters between the three riverbed states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and AP in 1973. The tribunal accounted the total available water in the Krishna at 2,080 tmc of water of which 800 tmc was allocated to AP. In addition, the tribunal had ruled that 25 per cent of the expected 330 tmc of surplus water could be utilised by the lower end state, AP. But, the state so far could utilise only 675 tmc of water with the help of three main reservoirs -- Srisailam (264 tmc), Nagarjunasagar (408) and Jurala (11).

Nearly 115 tmc of water from the actual allocation and a huge 85 tmc from the surplus water are going waste into the sea or untapped so far. "Keeping all these factors in view, the YSR government had launched projects like Velugonda, Pulichintala, Gundlakamma in different areas in Krishna river basin," farmers union leader Meka Rajaiah reasoned.

In addition to these projects, the government wanted to complete long-pending projects in Rayalaseema like Gururaghavendra, Penna-Ahobilam, Pothireddipadu to tap the available water in the Krishna basin. "We are seriously worried about the fate of our projects once Telangana is separated. We need a concrete assurance on the allocation of water to these projects," said Kandula Narayana Reddy, MLA of Markapuram in the drought-hit Prakasam district.

Velugonda project in his constituency was expected to be completed in the next two-three years, serving nearly six lakh acres of barren land in the district. "Forget about new projects, we are more worried about the fate of the existing Krishna and Godavari deltas," said an agitated former minister Devineni Nehru. He said YSR had even promised them the completion of Indira Sagar (Polavaram) to make the uplands in Krishna and West Godavari districts greener.

Polavaram, a multipurpose project proposed on the Godavari, envisages irrigation facilities in an extent of 2.91 lakh hectares in Visakhapatnam, East Godavari, West Godavari and Krishna districts besides diversion of 80 tmc of water to the Krishna river basin. "It also has a provision of water to Vizag city and other towns and villages en route and generation of 720 MW of hydro electric power. What if the Telangana leaders hijack all the water for the region?" Nehru asked.
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(SOURCE : TOI)