Source : The Hindu Date : 14.06.2009
Water released to Masula and Pedana
Special Correspondent
| The decision taken at Zilla Parishad general body meeting held earlier |
About 70 cusecs of water released into Krishna Eastern Main Canal
Authorities may release 2,000 cusecs from Nagarjuna Sagar
— PHOTO: CH. VIJAYA BHASKAR 
MLAs Malladi Vishnu,Jogi Ramesh, DY Das and ZP Chairman K Nageswara Rao helping Minister for Animal Husbandry K Parthasarodhy (third from left) manually releasing water into the Krishna Eastran Main Canal in Vijayawada on Saturday.
VIJAYAWADA: Minister for Animal Husbandry K. Parthasarodhy flipped the switch to open the shutters of the Krishna Eastern Main Canal head sluice to release drinking water for Machilipatnam and Pedana municipalities on Saturday.
About 70 cusecs of water was released into the Krishna Eastern Main Canal in accordance with the resolution of the Irrigation Advisory Board last week. Though the resolution said that drinking water should be released from Prakasam Barrage on June 15 the release was advanced after the issue became a topic of hot debate in the Zilla Parishad general body meeting held in Machilipatnam on Friday. Machilipatnam and Pedana MLAs reportedly insisted that the water be released in such away that it was available to the people on June 15.
Though officials of the Vijayawada Irrigation Circle preferred that the water be released on Friday night the programme was postponed to this morning.
The irrigation authorities said that 2,000 cusecs would be released from Nagarjuna Sagar to begin with and then the discharge would be reduced to 300 cusecs in preparation for the release of water for drinking purposes on June 15 and for the khariff season on June 20.
While the level of water in Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam is close to the Dead Storage Level the Irrigation authorities are hoping that the monsoon will become active over the catchment area and the reservoirs would be filled this week itself.
The Minister said that he was hopeful that the monsoon would become active and the agricultural activity would not be delayed. In charge superintending engineer Sankara Rao and other officials of the irrigation were present.
