Water supply high on NDA agenda: PM

By Our Special Correspondent.

TIRUPATI, MAY 24. The Prime Minister, Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, today said that the NDA Government was committed to providing drinking water to the people and supplying water to irrigation and industries and had included it on the NDA's National Development Agenda.

He was speaking after commissioning the Tirupati Water Supply Improvement Scheme, executed by the State Government at a cost of Rs. 69 crores, to meet the water needs of the temple town. The scheme envisaged tapping the Telugu Ganga canal near Srikalahasti and pumping water to Tirupati spanning about 35 kms.

The Prime Minister underlined the need on the part of the State Governments to regulate consumption of water to ensure its optimum utilisation.

Referring to the severe drought currently gripping certain pockets of the country, including Andhra Pradesh, he recalled how several cattle heads perished and women were forced to walk long distances for a pitcher of water. Against this background, Mr. Vajpayee congratulated the State Government for its foresight in commissioning the water supply scheme keeping in mind Tirupati's requirement by the year 2021.

The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, made use of the occasion to give the Prime Minister a brief resume on the `Water Harvesting' programme which his government was vigorously pursuing as a ``mass movement'' to recharge the underground water table in the State.

The Union Minister of State for Urban Development, Mr. Bandaru Dattatreya, welcomed and enumerated the Central schemes being undertaken in the State in the field of urban development, low cost sanitation, water supply etc.

A strong sense of bonhomie and camaraderie marked the inauguration of the Rs 69-crores Tirupati Water Supply Improve scheme here today where the Prime Minister Mr. Atal Behari Vajpayee, and the major NDA partner and the Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, shared a common platform.

Both the leaders lavished praises on each other during the hour- long programme and the first to start was Mr.Naidu. Referring to the widely publicised report on Tuesday that Mr. Vajpayee was the ``right choice'' to head the dream Cabinet, Mr. Naidu congratulated the Prime Minister on this unique distinction and called him a towering statesman under whose leadership the country was not only recognised as a strong nation, but also a nation poised to take the third slot by 2010. The other occasion when Mr. Naidu showered praise on Mr. Vajpayee was when he invited him to inaugurate the noble water scheme ``with his golden hands''.

The Chief Minister presented to the Prime Minister a portrait of Lord Venkateswara, the presiding deity of Tirumala.

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