Agricultural authorities have taken up measures to ensure proper supply of seeds and fertilisers following a recent directive from the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, in both East and West Godavari districts. In East Godavari, paddy is expected to be raised in about 2.42 lakh hectares for the kharif. With the arrival of an early monsoon and resultant rainfall, farmers have started preparing the ground for taking up cultivation. A section of farmers have already started raising paddy nurseries, and by mid-July, transplantation will be taken up.

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.

Poor hygiene, addiction to tobacco, poverty and illiteracy are attributed to be some of the main reasons for the prevalence of tuberculosis (TB) among tribals in the Agency areas and the poor in urban

The National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (NREGS) is to be implemented at a cost of nearly Rs 151 crore in West Godavari district from April.

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

West Godavari collector G. Jayalakshmi called for coordination among revenue and irrigation authorities to expedite land acquisition and rehabilitation works to complete the execution of Polavaram Indira Sagar project. Taking part in a review meeting on the progress of the project works here on Monday, she asked officials and agencies involved in the construction works to take up construction of houses to provide rehabilitation to project-affected persons. She said that the government argeted construction of 4,000 houses estimated to cost Rs 16 crore. The collector asked contracting agencies to supply iron, sand, cement, bricks and other required material to take up construction of houses and assured them that the government would pay the amount for supplying the material. The collector said land acquisition for the construction of project head works was almost compl-ete. She advised contracting agencies not to use delay in land acquisition as a pretext to delay the execution of the project. She dir-ected the executive engine-ers to come up with line sk-etches and other details of the project by February 27.

Proposes to irrigate around 230,000 hectares in Vijaywada, West & East Godavari and Visakhapatnam districts

Much to the Andhra Pradesh government's dismay, the National Environmental Appellate Authority has quashed the environmental clearance for the state's multi-crore Indira Sagar Project, formerly known

FEW roads cruise so perfectly through life's close hits and misses as the road to Kondamodalu - a quiet, beautiful village nestled in the Papikondalu hills in Devipatnam mandal of East Godavari district in Andhra Pradesh - does.