Around 91 tmc ft of water will be supplied to the Godavari region for the rabi season, Transport and Eluru district in-charge Minister Pinipe Viswaroop said after reviewing the preparedness for the cropping season with the Eluru District Irrigation Advisory Board (IAB) and District Agriculture Advisory Board (AAB), here, on November 14 (Tuesday).
“The Godavari region needs 91.35 tmc ft of water for irrigation for all crops in the rabi season. We are preparing to get 40 tmc ft of water from Sileru River, 12 tmc ft from the Godavari and 17 tmc ft from other sources depending on the water availability,” said Mr. Viswaroop.
The Minister advised the farmers in Eluru district to go for direct sowing of paddy by the end of November. Meanwhile, the irrigation officials were told to maintain the canals. The agriculture officials were instructed to create awareness among the farmers on the availability of irrigation water in the Godavari region for the rabi season.
Eluru district Collector V. Prasanna Venkatesh said that the Godavari water would be stored at the Polavaram irrigation project for supply in the rabi season, adding that the crop acreage in the district would be more than 56,000 acres in the rabi season.
The Collector asked the officials to ensure that no chemicals were used during the weed removal drive in the canal as cattle would drink water from the canals.
MLC Jayamangala Venkata Ramana appealed to the authorities to ensure that the supply of irrigation water to the tail-end area of the Kolleru ecosystem was maintained during the rabi season.
Irrigation Department Superintendent Engineer Y. Srinivas, District Rice Millers’ Association president Alla Sateesh Chowdary and other officials were present in the meeting.
