A decision to undertake the construction of the Nandikonda Dam across the Krishna river near Macherla during the First Five-Year Plan was taken at a conference held on February 24 in New Delhi in which the participants were the members of the Planning Commission and representatives of the Andhra and Hyderabad Governments. Mr. V.T. Krishnamachari, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission, presided. Those present included Mr. Gulzarilal Nanda, Planning Minister, Mr. C.M. Trivedi, Governor of Andhra, and Mr. B. Ramakrishna Rao, Chief Minister of Hyderabad. The entire project has now been split up into sections. The first phase of the project which has now been accepted consists of the Nandikonda Dam, a left bank canal up to 108 miles (leading up to the river Munneru) and a right bank canal up to 60 miles reaching the river Gundlakamma. The cost of construction of the dam and the two canals is estimated at Rs. 80 crores. The project when completed is expected to irrigate nearly 20 lakh acres. The cost of the left bank canal which serves exclusively Hyderabad territory has to be borne by the Hyderabad Government while that of the right bank canal which serves the Andhra State will be borne by the Andhra Government. The cost of the Nandikonda dam will be shared by the two Governments in proportion to the waters distributed in the two canals. What exactly will be the second phase of the project is not yet clear. The cost of the dam alone is expected to be Rs. 40 crores while that of the 60-mile canal along the right bank will be about Rs. 18 crores. This part of the project is expected to irrigate 12 lakh acres. The Hyderabad canal will provide irrigation facilities for about 7.9 lakh acres.
‘An emotional moment for me’
PULICHINTALA (GUNTUR DT.), December 8, 2013
It was a poignant moment for former IAS officer K.L Sujatha Rao, daughter of Dr. K.L Rao, the architect of multipurpose irrigation project that was inaugurated by Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy here on Saturday.
The project was fittingly named after him.
“It is a quite an emotional moment and a sentimental one too. My father was then president of Central Board of Irrigation and Power when he took a keen interest in the project. He was making a serious efforts to construct the project when the Planning Commission suggested that a project at Nagarjuna Sagar would be more beneficial. But he had always been passionate about this project. Thanks to the initiative of former Chief Ministers N.T. Rama Rao and Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy, the dream has become a reality,” Ms. Sujatha Rao told The Hindu, rem iniscing about the days her father used to work untiringly for the project.
Former MP Y. Sivaji said that preference was given to construction of Nagarjuna Sagar project as Muktyala zamindar Raja Vasireddy Ramakrishna Maheswara Prasad was keen on building a project at Nandikonda, later named as Nagarjuna Sagar.
Visits U.S.
Ms. Rao said that Dr. K.L Rao had even visited the U.S. in late 1940s to study dams such as Hoover Dam and prepare design for irrigation projects such as Polavaram.
The Raja of Muktyala strived hard for the construction of the Pulichintala Project across the river Krishna, a dream which has not taken shape till today[3]. He came to know that the Government of Madras Presidencyhas made plans to divert Krishna river water to Madras by linking Krishna and Pennar rivers. He embarked upon a tour of nine districts of Andhra Pradesh and visited each and every village to collect the signatures of people in favour of Nagarjuna Sagar Dam project. He travelled through the thick and inhospitable jungles near Macherla to visit the site of Nandikonda and formed a team of retired engineers at his own expense to make the project plans and designs. The government of Madras tried to scuttle his plans for which the Raja established the 'Krishna Farmers Welfare Society' and exerted pressure on the Government of India in favour of the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam. The Government of India instituted the Khosla Committee but the committee refused to visit the site on the excuse that there was no motorable road to Nandikonda. The Raja gathered villagers and volunteers from twenty five villages and made a road by labouring day and night for a week at his own expense. The Khosla committee visited the site and found it to be the most ideal location to build a gigantic dam across the river. There were attempts to suppress the report of the Khosla committee. The Raja went to New Delhi and with the support of N. G. Ranga, Moturi Hanumantha Rao and Kotha Raghuramaiah resurrected the report, distributed it to important people and urged the Planning Commission (Government of India) to take cognizance.
Chandulal Trivedi, the Governor of the state of Andhra Pradesh urged the Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru to accept the report of the Khosla Committee. An announcement was made in 1954 for the construction of the project. The foundation stone was laid on December 10, 1955. Raja spent fifty two lakhs of rupees as a matching grant for the project construction. The waters of Krishna river were released for the farmers on August 3, 1966.
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