By Our Special Correspondent
The two barangens of Sangam and Nellore inaugurated by Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy on Tuesday will give a new lease of life to the canal system of the Penna River.
This initiation has realized the decade’s long dream of the people of Nellore district. Barrages have been constructed at a cost of Rs.326 crores to stabilize around 4.85 lakh acres of Ayacut.
In the 1880s, the then British rulers constructed one dam each at Nellore and Sangam to meet the irrigation needs and supply of drinking water to Nellore town as well as several mandals in Nellore district.
But both structures have outlived their usefulness, and people are clamoring for new barrages along with carriageways. In 2008, the then Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy started the construction of two new barrages, but the work progressed slowly.
The current government led by his son YS Jagan Mohan Reddy has completed the projects. The Sangam barrage was named after former minister Mekapati Gautham Reddy, who died of a heart attack in February this year.
There are 3.85 lakh acres under Sangam barrage and 2.47 lakh acres under Penna delta. The 1,195 meter Sangam Barrage has 79 crest gates and six sluice vents.
Due to the construction of road on both sides of the barrage, traffic between Sangam and Podhalakur mandals will be smooth. According to the officials of the State Water Resources Department, as part of the project, the river bank along a length of about 7 kilometers has also been strengthened.
Two regulators are being constructed on the Kanagiri-Kavali and Kanpur canals to provide regular water supply to Ayacut. Nellore Barrage was constructed with 43 spillway gates and eight scour vents. It has a water holding capacity of 0.45 thousand million cubic feet.
The barrage has a carriageway of 7.5 meters for traffic flow. Nellore Barrage has about 99,000 acres under its control and is a source of drinking water for the citizens of Nellore city and 77 surrounding villages.
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