The inauguration of Phase I of the Poola Subbaiah Veligonda Project on August 31 marks a major milestone for one of Andhra Pradesh’s longest-pending irrigation projects.
With the inauguration, 10.70 TMC of Krishna water will be released into Nallamala Sagar, providing irrigation to approximately 1.19 lakh acres and drinking water to around four lakh people.
The significance of Veligonda goes far beyond the inauguration ceremony.
For the drought-prone areas of Markapuram, Prakasam, Nellore and Kadapa, the project has long represented the hope of reliable irrigation and drinking water.
The project is designed to draw floodwater from the Srisailam reservoir by gravity through two tunnels, each about 18.8 kilometres long beneath the Nallamala hills into Nallamala Sagar.
At full operation, it is designed to irrigate approximately 4.47 lakh acres across 30 mandals and provide drinking water to nearly 23 lakh people.
The inauguration has also brought renewed attention to understanding the actual progress made under successive governments.
From feasibility study to foundation stone
The Veligonda project dates back to 1991, when the government headed by then Chief Minister N. Janardhana Reddy ordered a feasibility study.
A Detailed Project Report was prepared in 1994 as a single-tunnel system. In 1996, then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for the project.
However, the foundation stone did not translate into significant progress on the ground, and the project remained largely stalled.
When construction finally began
The project received a major push in 2004, when then Chief Minister Dr. Y. S. Rajasekhara Reddy took it up under the Jalayagnam program and initiated construction.
The project was subsequently redesigned as a twin-tunnel system, making it considerably more ambitious in scale.
Between 2004 and 2014, 20.333 Kms of the total 37.587 Kms of twin-tunnel excavation were completed.
During N. Chandrababu Naidu’s 2014–19 tenure, only 6.686 Kms of the total tunnel excavation was completed.
The project again gained momentum under former CM Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy. Between 2019 and 2024, two breakthroughs were achieved, and 10.568 kilometers of tunneling were completed.
On March 6, 2024, three decades after the first feasibility study, the twin tunnels were formally inaugurated and dedicated to the nation by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy.
Now, with Phase I beginning to deliver Krishna water, Veligonda has moved another major step closer to fulfilling the purpose for which it was conceived more than three decades ago.
The excavation figures highlight that the overwhelming share of the tunnel work was completed during the periods under the YSR and YS Jagan governments.
Dheeraj Pola, Phoenix, AZ
