Date:15/09/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/09/15/stories/2008091554040500.htm

Andhra Pradesh - Hyderabad

Perform ‘Varuna puja’, Ministers told

Major reservoirs filled for fifth successive year

Chief Minister holds review meeting with Irrigation Minister
Crest gates of Nagarjunasagar will be opened today

HYDERABAD: Buoyed by major reservoirs getting filled for the fifth successive year, Chief Minister Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy on Sunday asked his Cabinet colleagues to perform ‘Varuna puja’ at the project sites.

At a review meeting with Major Irrigation Minister P. Lakshmaiah and Agriculture Minister N. Raghuveera Reddy and officials on the performance of the farm sector in the context of major reservoirs being full, he said the occasion called for pujas.

The Major Irrigation Minister informed him that the crest gates of the Nagarjunasagar reservoir would be opened on Monday morning. Similarly, those of the Nizamsagar reservoir, which also received heavy inflows, would be opened in the evening.

“In the last four years and four months, the farm sector has witnessed a resurgence, thanks to copious rainfall. Agriculture labourers were able to get handful of work for minimum of 100 days in a year under the National Rural Employment Guarantee Programme, which improved rural livelihood,” Dr. Reddy remarked. The government dedicated all awards/honours it received to farmers who toiled to make the State reach the top in the farm sector. While complimenting 1.4 crore farmers’ families on all prestigious awards/honours, he recalled UPA chairperson Sonia Gandhi’s description of AP as the best State in the agriculture sector and her tributes to the farmers at recent meetings in Tirupati and Anantapur.

Best State

The Chief Minister recalled that AP had been selected for the prestigious State leadership award, as the best performing State in the agriculture sector.