Complete maintenance works on all canals by May end, minister to officials

Time of India

12-05-2025

Vijayawada: In a move to keep the irrigation canals ready to take full capacity flows during the monsoon season,
Nimmala Ramanaidu has asked the officials to complete all the works related to
by May end.
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He wanted the senior officials including Engineer-in-Chief (ENC), chief engineers (CEs) and superintending engineers (SEs) to personally monitor the progress of the works on daily basis with the contractors.
The minister took stock of the situation with the senior officials via teleconference on Monday. The meeting was attended by irrigation special chief secretary G Saiprasad, KADA commissioner Ramsundar Reddy, ENC M Venkateswara Rao, and other senior officials. Ramanaidu said that chief minister Chandrababu Naidu released ₹344 crore for canal maintenance works across the state, including desilting of canals, removal of water hyacinth and water lettuce, repair of shutters and gates, and greasing very recently. He said that the purpose of the emergency works will not be served if not completed on time. The minister suggested using drones for spraying chemicals to remove water hyacinth and water lettuce. He permitted the officials to go for short tenders with a seven-day notice wherever it is necessary in order to reach the May 31 deadline. He said that the primary goal of these maintenance and repair works is to restore
to normalcy before the 2025 Kharif season and there should not be any compromise in the completion of works.
He instructed that mechanical components like gates and shutters must be inspected by assistant engineers, who should submit a certificate to the chief engineer confirming their proper functioning. He asked the SEs to take the support of water user associations to complete the works as per the schedule. "Chief Engineers and Superintending Engineers should personally monitor the works continuously to ensure timely completion.
All works must be completed with quality by the end of May, unlike in the past and canals should be ready before the season begins," said Ramanaidu. He said that the previous YSRCP govt completely neglected the maintenance of canals and project gates throughout the five-years leaving them in a dangerous situation. He said that previous govt had not spent even a penny for the maintenance of canals resulting in poor flows and inadequate supplies. He said that the tail-end farmers struggled to get water as the canals were packed with hyacinth. He said that the engineers lived in fear as they were not allowed even to apply grease to the reservoir gates. He said that corrective measures were not taken even after the gates washed away at Pulichintala and Gundlakamma reservoirs. He said that entire Annamayya project on Cheyyeru river in Kadapa district was washed away during the flash floods due to the negligence of the YSRCP regime. He asked the officials not to allow such incidents to reoccur and urged them to complete the works without compromising on the quality.