Chittoor district in-charge Minister Mekapati Goutham Reddy has allayed the apprehensions among the public over the fate of Rayalacheruvu and stated that the water body is in good shape.
The Minister, accompanied by Deputy Chief Minister K. Narayanaswamy, Member of Parliament (Tirupati) M. Gurumoorthy and legislators Ch. Bhaskar Reddy (Chandragiri) and B. Madhusudhan Reddy (Srikalahasti), visited the submerged villages in the vicinity of the Rayalacheruvu tank on Tuesday. He visited villages like C.K. Palle and Sooravaripalle in an NDRF boat. He assured the residents who spent sleepless nights that their problems would be solved in a couple of days and offered support from the government in the form of essential commodities.
Speaking to the media, he expressed concern over the manner in which the never-before rains had impacted their lives, cutting off access to villages, washing away roads and submerging crops.
He said there was absolutely no danger to the ancient water body, though damp soil patches chipped off at some points. The Minister also offered to get the tank repaired at the earliest.
Referring to the long-pending dispute between villages upstream and downstream of the Rayalacheruvu, Mr. Narayanaswamy said all the affected villages would be brought to the negotiating table under the leadership of Mr. Bhaskar Reddy to find a solution soon.
