Hyderabad: Former vice-chairman of the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and founder-president of the Forum for Godavari waters utilisation, Marri Shashidhar Reddy, on Saturday, described the Polavaram-Banakacharla river linkage project proposed by the Andhra Pradesh government as “a white elephant”, since its estimated cost outweighs its utility.
Reddy said he had written to chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu on August 6 to drop the proposal for the Polavaram-Banakacharla project that seeks to divert Godavari waters to the Krishna River and then to the Pennar basin and instead follow the “four-water concept” adopted by the Rajasthan government.
Reddy, son of former chief minister Dr Marri Channa Reddy, recalled that during his earlier stint as the chief minister of combined Andhra Pradesh in 2000, Naidu had launched the “Neeru-Meeru” programme by constituting a Water Conservation Mission (WCM) with many eminent experts, including late T Hanumantha Rao.
The expert committee recommended implementation of the Watershed Development projects based on Four Waters Concept (FWC), which is effective utilisation of rainwater, soil moisture up to water table level, ground water and surface water. This technology stresses on water spreading techniques to facilitate recharge to ground water, in the upper areas of the watershed, through mini percolation tanks, he said.
Reddy said the scheme launched in October 2001 covered nearly 84 villages in Telangana and about 120 villages in Rayalaseema and it had yielded excellent results. “For instance, at Gottigaripalli village of Kohir block in Sangareddy district the scheme, implemented at a cost of about ₹5,000 per acre, consistently provided water for three crops in a year,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Reddy said the scheme launched in October 2001 covered nearly 84 villages in Telangana and about 120 villages in Rayalaseema and it had yielded excellent results. “For instance, at Gottigaripalli village of Kohir block in Sangareddy district the scheme, implemented at a cost of about ₹5,000 per acre, consistently provided water for three crops in a year,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}He said subsequently, the FWC was completely ignored in the Telugu states, it was successfully implemented in Rajasthan by former chief minister Vasundhara Raje Scindia under the “Mukhyamantri Jal Swavalamban Abhiyan” (MJSA) between 2014 and 2018.
Ironically, a Telangana government engineer Md Afsar went on deputation to implement the programme in Rajasthan, he said.
Reddy appealed to Naidu, who had sowed the seed for FWC during the tenure of combined Andhra Pradesh in 2001, to seriously consider it as a viable, low-cost alternative to the Polavaram--Banakacherla Project.
This can be implemented in about two years, capable of providing water for three crops annually to cater to 30 lakh acres for a total cost of just ₹4,500 crore at the rate of ₹15,000 per acre at today’s rates. This will be a fraction of even the minimum basic estimated cost of ₹81,900 crore for the Polavaram-Banakacharla project, he said.