Hyderabad, July 16: Residents of former municipalities such as Kapra, Alwal, Malkajgiri and LB Nagar and those in Secunderabad Cantonment Board have to wait a little longer to get Krishna water. The South Central Railway has given permission to lay a pipeline for ring main-II of Krishna Phase-II only on Wednesday. According to the water board managing director, Mr G. Asok Kumar, it would take two months to complete ring main-II works.

The Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, will lay the foundation stone for modernisation of delta at Puligadda village in Avanigadda constituency on June 6. The government has undertaken the works of modernising the canals and drains in Krishna and Guntur districts with an estimated cost of Rs 4,500 crore in which Rs 2,130 crore will be spent in Krishna district. Initially, the works in some packages have been awarded to contractors and works have been going on in some sectors as summer is most ideal for completing canal works.

State medical and health director general Dr Ramesh Chandra deplored the poor maintenance of sanitation in villages and municipalities and felt the need to sensitise the general public on cleanliness of environs to keep diseases at bay. The director general chaired a regional task force meeting of officials from the medical and health and other connected departments in both East and West Godavari and Krishna districts here on Tuesday. Speaking on the sidelines of the meet, the director general felt the need for creation of awareness on health and hygiene among the public.

In a major move, the state government has shelved the proposed Krishna Phase-III project and replaced it with the Godavari project to bring 10 tmc of water in phase-I from the Sripada Sagar reservoir in Yellampalli in Karimnagar district. The Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board has invited tenders for the execution of the Rs 3,300 crore project to bring Godavari water to the city.

The Krishna district administration has taken several measures and launched the National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) in all the villages in 49 mandals on Tuesday.

All the works including civil, pressure mines (laying underground pipelines) and electro-mechanical works of Indirasagar Lift Irrigation Scheme (ILIS) are going on a war-footing with an aim to start t

Tenders of one and four package of Dummugudem-Nagarjunasagar Project tail pond link canal, the first of its kind in the country in river linkage of Godavari and Krishna rivers, would be put online for e-procurement on February 27. The first package is an approach canal from zero to 6.5 km and water would be drawn from Godavari at the time of floods and it would be taken to the tail pond of Nagarjunasagar reservoir. Water would be drawn when the river crosses 52.5 feet and would be diverted through 6.5 km length approach canal on gravity. There is no need for lifting it to the point. The contracts would be called on engineering-procurement-construction (EPC) system. Though the engineers of the project evolved a plan for the packages on behalf of the government the companies which obtained the tenders have to submit fresh engineering, procurement and construction plans for the packages of the project. As a result, the cost may be reduced or increased as per the approved plan. The fourth package is for constructing a pump house for 20,000 cusecs and digging a canal from 38.5 km to 48 km. The project officials planned to call the tenders on February 21 but it was postponed to February 27 to finalise the cost of the two packages. Officials are tight-lipped about the cost of the project, but sources said that the two packages would cost Rs 550 crore. The total cost of the project is estimated to be Rs 8,930 crore and the project work would be divided into more than 18 packages. Water can be drawn only during floods.

The multi-crore Polavaram project in Andhra Pradesh is currently embroiled in legal issues. But now, the project is being contested on technical issues as well. A study carried out by the