How Andhra CM Chandrababu Naidu linked rivers, delinked netas

HYDERABAD: The Pattiseema project will bring huge dividends to water-starved farmers of the Krishna Delta, reason both the TDP and YSR Congress have been vying with each other to claim credit for it.

TDP claims it completed the 174-km-long project that'll fetch flood water from Godavari to Krishna, YSR Congress alleges Naidu's government squandered public money and simply changed the project's name.

It argues that most of the work on the Pattiseema (Polavaram) canal was completed during late CM YS Rajasekhara Reddy's tenure. To claim sole credit, the TDP government removed the name 'Indira' from Polavaram Indira Sagar. It had to convince Godavari delta farmers that diversion of 80 tmc ft of water to the Krishna delta, India's rice bowl, won't impact their irrigation interests.

CM Chandrababu Naidu scored a political point when he said the 80 tmc ft water thus 'saved' from the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar dams on the Krishna could be diverted to Rayalaseema's parched districts. Contrary to TDP's claim, Godavari and the Krishna have been 'interlinked' earlier.

Andhra Pradesh, in fact, is south India's only state with all major rivers, Godavari, Krishna, Pennar and Tungabhadra, interlinked. Two of the three major linkages were carried out by the British. Almost 160 years ago Krishna was connected to Godavari albeit for navigation. Today's Pattiseema scheme is a pure irrigation one.

The Eluru canals from Godavari and Krishna meet at Malkapuram village to form part of the Kakinada-Pondicherry Buckingham canal.

The two Eluru canals also meet the Tammileru rivulet that drains into the Kolleru lake. More recently the Telugu Ganga Project that supplies drinking water to Chennai, connected Krishna with Pennar and with Kandaleru before reaching Chennai. Then, over 130 years ago river Tungabhadra was joined to Pennar via the Kurnool-Cuddapah (KC) canal.

The Pattiseema, however, is the first intra-state project that's seen completion under the revised national river linking project. The mega project meets Krishna delta's irrigation needs and brings large volumes of Godavari's waters into river Krishna, upstream of Vijayawada's Prakasam Barrage.