Vijayawada:Chief Minister Nara Chandrababu Naidu would release water to the expanded Handreeniva canal at the Malyala pumping station in Nandikotkur mandal of Nandyal district on Thursday, July 17.The state government has completed the target of expanding this canal in 100 days.With this expansion work, undertaken at a cost of Rs 696 crore, the flow of the Handreeniva Phase 1 canal has increased to 3850 cusecs. The chief minister, with the determination to provide drinking irrigation waters to Rayalaseema, has set daily targets after the start of the Phase 1 and Phase 2 canal works.“Currently, with the expansion work of the Phase-1 canal, it is possible to move an additional 1600 cusecs of water. With this, the government took steps to fill the Jeedipalli reservoir to its full,” officials said.The government has completed this project quickly to provide irrigation water to the ayacut in Kurnool, Anantapur and Chittoor districts and also quench the thirst of 33 lakh people.Officials said that with the completion of the 216-km widening works for the Handri Niva canal from Mallyala to Jeedipalli, local ponds in Rayalaseema districts, including Jeedipalli, Krishnagiri, Pattikonda and Gajuladinne, would also be filled with water.Previously, the full capacity of Handreeniva Phase 1 canal was only 2,200 cusecs. So far, 40 tmc-ft of water has been used only 1 to 2 times during floods. Now that the capacity of the canals has increased to 3,850 cusecs, the Rayalaseema districts can use 40tmc-ft of floodwater to the full capacity of the project this year.As per orders from the chief minister, the water resources department has completed the expansion work of the Handreeniva Canal Phase 1 at a rapid pace. This made it possible to take an additional 17.10tmc-ft of water during the four-month flood period at the rate of about 4.27tmc-ft per month.With this, the 40 tmc-ft of water allocated for the HNSS project would help meet the drinking and irrigation water needs of Kurnool, Anantapur, Chittoor and Kadapa districts.The officials explained that through HNSS Phase 1, 2906 acres of land in Nandyal district, 77,094 acres in Kurnool district, and 1,18,000 acres in Anantapur district would receive water. As part of the Phase 2 project, another 2.27 lakh acres in Anantapur district, 37,500 acres in Kadapa district and 1.40 lakh acres in Chittoor district would receive water.In total, more than 6 lakh acres would be irrigated through Phase 1 and Phase 2 while drinking water would be provided to 33 lakh people.
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