BUND TO BE BUILT TO SAVE 20 HABITATIONS

A total of 20 habitations of Aswapuram, Manuguru, Charla and Dummugudem mandals will be protected by a bund from the River Godavari as part of the Sitammasagar project that proposes to store 37 tmc ft of water. The bund should be built at the height of 80 feet to protect the habitations from the river water.

The government began land acquisition for the purpose in the four mandals. The Sitammasagar is being built to store water for the Sitarama lift irrigation project. About

6.74 lakh acres will be irrigated under it.

The storage of 37 tmc ft may cause submersion of habitations in the two mandals. A bund on both sides is proposed to protect these habitations from the backwaters of the project.

A survey was taken up in the three mandals and completed in one village in Charla mandal. The anicut will be built at 69 metres against 43 meters of the Godavari river level. About 358 acres in Manuguru, 293 in Aswapuram, 419 in Dummugudem and 747 acres in Charla would be acquired for the bund. The Sitammasagar, which is a river reservoir, will come up

200 metres upstream of the Sitarama lift irrigation project. The project cost is estimated at `2,600 crore. The officials plan to complete the land survey within two months. The bund is also a relief to the people of these habitations from regular floods in the Godavari. These villages are inundated every monsoon.

From the Sitarama project, about 9,000 cusecs of water will be lifted every day through four pump sets during the monsoon and about 70 tmc ft will be sent to the canals in the season.

The people in the 20 habitations are happy over the construction of a bund on the Godavari. N. Appaiah, a farmer from Aswapuram, said “Not only habitations but also the crops will be saved from the floods with the bund construction. We are welcoming the land acquisition for the purpose.”