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Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Chandrababu Naidu announced the release of the Swarna Andhra Vision-2047 document, highlighting water security as one of the state's 10 key development priorities.
He also underlined that ensuring water security is crucial to the long-term growth of Andhra Pradesh. According to a statement, CM Naidu praised former Chief Minister Nandamuri Taraka Rama Rao (NTR) as the only leader who supplied five TMC of water to Tamil Nadu through the Telugu Ganga Project. He noted that Karnataka, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh contributed water to Tamil Nadu under an agreement signed in the presence of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. He further stated that 90 per cent of irrigation projects, including the Somasila project, were initiated and completed during the Telugu Desam Party's (TDP) tenure. Addressing the Polavaram Project, CM Naidu recalled that after the state bifurcation in 2014, the Congress Party declared Polavaram a national project. He urged the Prime Minister to merge the seven mandals likely to be affected by the project into Andhra Pradesh, the statement added. The statement further stated that Naidu had **firmly** mentioned that he did not take the oath as Chief Minister until this issue was resolved. An ordinance was subsequently passed, signed by the President of India, and approved in the parliamentary sessions. Naidu, as per the statement, also lauded NTR as a visionary leader who initiated irrigation projects to ensure water availability for future generations. He noted that while Uttarandhra districts receive good rainfall, they continue to face water shortages due to inadequate irrigation infrastructure. Similarly, Rayalaseema, Prakasam, and Nellore districts frequently experience droughts, leading to uncertainty in agricultural incomes. The Krishna River, he said, suffers from unreliable inflows due to excessive water usage by upstream states and full utilization of allocations by basin states. In contrast, the Godavari River has consistent inflows, making it a potential source for addressing water scarcity in Andhra Pradesh. CM Naidu revealed that, on average, 2,989 TMC of floodwater flows into the sea annually from the Godavari River, based on data from the past 50 years. To drought-proof the state, the government plans to divert 200 TMC of Godavari floodwaters at a rate of 2 TMC per day from upstream of the Polavaram Dam to the Banakacherla Regulator. (ANI)
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