The decades-long dream of people of parched uplands in Palnadu to get irrigation facilities for commercial crops such as chilli, is finally going to be fulfilled.
The government has allocated ₹1,650 crore to stablise an ayacut of 1.50 lakh acres under Varikapudisila Lift Irrigation project in the budget.
CM thanked
Elected representatives from Palnadu, led by Narsaraopet MP Lavu Krishnadevarayulu, and MLAs Pinnelli Ramakrishna Reddy (Macherla), Gopireddy Srinivasa Reddy (Narsaraopet), Bolla Brahma Naidu (Vinukonda), Namburu Sankara Rao (Pedakurapadu) called on Chief Minister Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy at the Assembly and thanked him for including the project in the YSR Palnadu Durbiksha Nirmulana scheme.
The LI scheme had a long history dating back to 1940s when the irrigation authorities proposed to construct a lift scheme upstream the Nagarjuna Sagar project. The proposed site is located in deep jungle and this led to frequent postponement of the work.
Finally, the then Chief Minister Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy laid the foundation stone for the project in 2008 but nothing happened for the next six years. N. Chandrababu Naidu again laid the foundation stone and the department prepared the DPR, but the project got administrative sanction in 2019 after Mr. Jagan formed the government.
In the first phase, the project aims to provide water to 45,000 acres in Veldurthy, Durgi, Chautupalli mandals.
