Government Whip and Pinapaka MLA Rega Kantha Rao said nearly 90% of the pump house works and 70% of the concrete lining works of the Sitarama Lift Irrigation Project (SRLIP) have been completed.
Addressing the gathering at the 75th Independence Day ceremony after unfurling the national flag at Pragathi Maidan in Kothagudem on Sunday, Mr Kantha Rao said the ₹13,058-crore SRLIP, after completion, would help tap the flood waters of the Godavari for irrigating thousands of acres of parched lands in Bhadradri-Kothagudem, Khammam and Mahabubabad districts.
It will prove a boon to Bhadradri-Kothagudem district by providing water to irrigate over 1.58 lakh acres and an additional 42,935 acres ayacut under the small irrigation tanks, he noted.
The Sitamma Sagar multi-purpose project taken up by the Irrigation Department across the Godavari at Ammagaripalli in Aswapuram mandal would accrue multiple benefits, including augmenting irrigation facilities and hydro power generation. It envisages construction of guide bunds on either side of the Godavari to prevent flooding of the riverside habitations, he added.
Reeling out a slew of tribal welfare schemes, Mr Kantha Rao said ₹12 crore funds sanctioned for digging borewells to make the farm lands of tribals productive under Girivikasam, vehicles were sanctioned on subsidy to as many as 22 tribal youths under the driver empowerment programme, a component of TRICOR.
Collector D Anudeep, Superintendent of Police Sunil Dutt and others attended the ceremony.
The I-Day was celebrated on a grand scale at the Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) head office in Kothagudem. SCCL Directors N Balram and S Chandrasekhar felicitated 11 best employees, one each from the 11 Areas of the Singareni coalfields, on the occasion.
