Andhra Pradesh - Visakhapatnam

Maoists’ shadow over Vamsadhara stage II works

VISAKHAPATNAM: Will the Vamsadhara irrigation project, rechristened Boddepalli Rajagopala Rao project, a long-cherished dream of the people of Srikakulam district and taken up as part of Government’s prestigious Jalayagnam programme, be completed on schedule? The answer is a firm ‘no’ if the prevailing conditions and the progress achieved so far is any indication. Vamsadhara project consists of two stages. The stage-1 programme, which provides irrigation water for about 1.48 lakh acres through the Left Main Canal, is completed. It is the stage-II of the project, which is taken up under Jalayagnam programme. The estimated cost of the stage-II programme is Rs.933 crores.

It envisages taking water from Vamsadhara by a side weir near Neradi. Construction of 34 km flood flow canal, three reservoirs, one each at Singidi (package 87), Parapuram (package 88) and Heeramandalam are the other features of the project. The project is originally scheduled to be completed by March 2008, but it was extended and the latest schedule of time for completion is June 2009.

“One should be happy if the project is completed by June 2010,” said a senior officer of the project monitoring works at the field level. Work has come to a stand still and the three contracting agencies entrusted with the task of executing the works had withdrawn their machinery from the work site. According to officials, the machinery withdrawn included 10 excavators, nearly 40 tippers, concrete mixing plants etc. It was nearly a month back that senior officials of the irrigation department issued notices to the executing agencies to resume work immediately. But nothing was done. Even though lands for the three reservoirs had already been acquired, only a little over 35 percent of the work of 87 and 88 packages and 30 percent of work of 19 tmc ft capacity reservoir at Heeramandalam had been completed. Only Rs. 340 crores had been spent on the project. This included money spent for land acquisition and RR package.

Sources said that one of the reasons for the delay in work is the problem of Maoists. The works of the flood flow canal and Singidi reservoir have to be carried out in Bhamini and Kotturu mandals. Both are strongholds of Maoists, and executing agencies are reportedly having difficulty in continuing the work. This issue is brought to the notice of Revenue Minister Dharmana Prasada Rao, who is instrumental in getting sanction for the stage-II of the project. Sources in the irrigation department say the agencies had completed works which are profitable and had left the other works. Officials agree that they have difficulty in making the agencies resume work. There is provision for imposing penalty, but as of now progress of work had suffered a lot and there is little of hope of resuming work in near future, say officials.

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