Dream Fulfilled: Yeleru Waters To Thandava Reservoir

VIZAG-EAST GODAVARI: Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has given the green signal for the project to connect Yeleru canal waters to the Thandava reservoir. This much-needed project will irrigate more than 52,000 acres of farmland in the hilly regions. It would make it possible for future cultivation in the Visakhapatnam-East Godavari districts, a dream come true for the farmers in that region since the past sixty years, tweeted YSR Congress Party (YSRCP) MP V Vijayasai Reddy.    

విశాఖ - తూర్పు గోదావరి జిల్లాకు @ysjagan గారి సర్కార్ మరో వరం. తాండవ జలాశయానికి ఏలేరు కాలవ నీరు తెచ్చే ప్రాజెక్టుకు గ్రీన్ సిగ్నల్. 52 వేల ఎకరాల మెట్ట ప్రాంతాలకు ఇదో వరం. 60 ఏళ్ల రైతుల కల సాకారం కాబోతోంది.

— Vijayasai Reddy V (@VSReddy_MP) December 13, 2020

The then Chief Minister of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, Neelam Sanjeevareddy had first laid the foundation stone for the reservoir at Thandava in 1959 to provide irrigation facilities in different mandals in the Visakhapatnam and East Godavari regions. Within 10 years, the project was completed and was irrigating over 52, 000 acres of land in the hilly regions.

The subsequent governments ignored the project, and the reservoir along with the canals shrunk in size due to flooding and siltation over the time.

During Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy's tenure as chief minister, the canal lining works were completed to strengthen the reservoir and the water canals.

Now the present Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has taken up the initiative to connect the Yeleru canal water to the Thandava reservoir and further increase the size of the reservoir which would improve cultivation in the two districts.

The Thandava Reservoir is the only major irrigation project in Visakhapatnam district. The reservoir covers an area of ​​32,689 acres in the Nathavaram, Narsipatnam, Kotavuratla, Payakaravupeta and Nakkapalli  mandals of Visakhapatnam district and 18,776 acres in the Kotanandur, Tuni and Rauthulapudi zones of the East Godavari district.

Due to the gradual accumulation of silt in the canals, which reduced the water in-flow, the reservoir gradually shrunk in size making it difficult for water to reach the farmlands downhill.

As soon as the YSRCP came to power, Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy sanctioned Rs 50 Crore for the canal lining, and development of the reservoir surroundings for tourism.  With the completion of these works and the reservoir filling up made it possible to irrigate lands at the tail-end of the canal.

Even though the canals were functioning, the farmers were unable to cultivate due to unfavorable weather and less water levels in the reservoir. This was explained to the Chief Minister by the Narsipatnam, Tuni, Payakaravupeta and Pattipada MLAs-- P Umashankar Ganesh, Dadishetti Raja, Golla Baburao, Poornachandra Prasad,  and film actor R Narayanamurthy who hailed from Rautupudi in  East Godavari district. If the water from the Yeluru canal were connected to the Thandava reservoir the farmers in that region would be highly benefited, they explained.

With this, the YS Jagan -led Government  had decided to increase the water flow capacity of the Yeluru canal for the connection of these waters to Thandava reservoir and also allocated Rs 500 Crore for this purpose.

A Government Order to this effect would also be release shortly and  the farmers in the Visakhapatnam- East Godavari region  under the Thandava Reservoir can now benefit and cultivate two crops hence forth, said  the Narsipatnam YSRCP MLA Petla Umashankar Ganesh.