Farmers and political parties urge Andhra Pradesh government to repair canals of Vamsadhara, Nagavali and Jhanjavati rivers

Farmers and political parties urge State government to repair canals for water supply, livelihood, and economic growth in Andhra Pradesh.

Several farmers associations and representatives of political parties asked the State government to take steps for the repairs and maintenances of canals of Vamsadhara, Nagavali and Jhanjavati rivers to ensure that the water reaches till the tail-end areas. According to them, the inadequate release of funds for the maintenance of canals led to piling up of mud in the route of the water canals.

Uttarandhra Cheruvula Parirakshana Samithi president M. Malati Krishnamurthy Naidu said that around 20,000 acres of lands would get assured water if the government would take care of maintenance of canals of Janjavathi project. He has also urged the State government to talk to its counterpart in Odisha to settle the land acquisition issue for the completion of the project.

Rythu Coolie Sangham of Andhra Pradesh State secretary Dantuluri Varma said that both farmers and agriculture labourers were unable to get livelihood with the failure of maintenance of canals which could have ensured three crops in a year. “The farmers are forced to depend only on rainwater for agriculture needs in spite of having irrigation projects on rivers of North Andhra region. The successive governments are not concentrating on repairs and modernisation of those canals which would ensure direct livelihood for farmers and indirect benefits to many people with the spur of economic activity,“ he added.

Communist Party of India State Secretariat member P. Kameswara Rao has asked the government to take up repairs immediately since those needed to be completed before the beginning of the rainy season. “The government should direct the Irrigation Department officials to send estimates for repairs and take up the work quickly to benefit nearly eight lakh farmers of the region,” he added.