Talks with Maharashtra on Penganga project soon, says CM

By Our Staff Reporter

JHARI (ADILABAD DT.), June 19. The Chief Minister, Mr. N. Chandrababu Naidu, has said that the Andhra Pradesh Major Irrigation Minister will hold talks with his Maharastra counterpart to take up the Inter-State Lower Penganga major irrigation project soon.

The scheduled meeting between the Irrigation Ministers earlier this month was postponed due to unavoidable reasons, the Chief Minister said while addressing an impressive public meeting in this interior naxal-affected village of Talamadugu mandal, about 25 km from Adilabad district headquarters on Tuesday evening after laying the foundation-stone for a minor irrigation project across Jhari vagu.

The Chief Minister, on a whirlwind tour of the district laid the foundation stones for Palvai Purshottam Rao project across Yerravagu in Salegaon village of Dahegaon mandal, Ada project renamed as Komaram Bheem project at Ada in Asifabad mandal, Jhari and Karatwada projects in Talamadugu and Boath mandals, all costing about Rs. 210 crores. Besides this, he launched the Tribal Area Horticulture programme at Ada and the Agriculture Technology Management Association (ATMA) programme at Boath for which Rs. 5 crores has been earmarked.

The Major Irrigation Minister, Mr. Mandava Venkateswara Rao, the Minor Irrigation Minister, Mr. K.E. Prabhakar, the Municipal Administration Minister, Mr. N.M.D. Farookh, the Handlooms and Textiles Minister, Mr. Padala Bhoomanna, the district MLAs -- Dr. Pati Subadhra (Asifabad), Ms. Palvai Rajyalakshmi (Sirpur), Mr. Rathod Ramesh (Khanapur), Mr. Nagesh (Boath) and the District Collector, Mr. K.Ramakrishna Rao, attended the programmes.

Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said talks between the two Ministers would be arranged soon to sign an Memorandum of understanding (MoU) for the Penganga project. The project intends to irrigation 42,000 acres of agriculture land in Bela, Tamsi and Jainath mandals of Adilabad district while 2.38 lakh acres would be irrigated in Yavatmal and Chandrapur districts of Maharashtra. The project is being taken up near Chikalwardha village in Yavatmal district at an estimated cost of Rs. 1,182 crores of which the Andhra Pradesh Government has to provide Rs. 245 crores.

The Chief Minister reeled out statistics to prove that the Government has been making allround efforts to pump in money to take up several welfare and developmental schemes in backward areas.

He made particular reference to the welfare of SCs and STs assuring them of all out help and pointed out that as there were a large number of backlog vacancies of teachers. Eligible graduates, belonging to the SC and ST communities would be provided special training in teaching leading to the B.Ed degree which would ensure them jobs.

Earlier, addressing a meeting at Salegaon after laying the foundation for the Palvai Purshottam Rao project across Yerravagu, the Chief Minister said that the Government was committed to the uplift of the weaker sections and the downtrodden. He recalled the untiring efforts of slain Sirpur MLA, Palvai Purshottam Rao, who was gunned by PWG naxals in 1999.

Addressing another public meeting at Ada in Asifabad mandal, where a medium irrigation project at an cost of Rs. 158 crores is being taken up, Mr. Chandrababu Naidu said rehabilitation package would be extended to residents of nine villages which are going to be submerged. The Government had already spent over Rs. 120 crores in the Asifabad Assembly constituencies by completing the Vattivagu and NTR sagar projects. Six minor irrigation projects would be taken up in the constituency at an cost of Rs. 11 crores, he added. He then launched the Tribal Area Horticulture programme.

At Boath, the Chief Minister said naxals were the stumbling block in development and urged the underground cadre to quit the movement and join the mainstream. Later, he launched the ATMA project and left for Hyderabad.

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