Puttaparthi trust ready to fund TN water project 

Our Bureau 

Chennai , Aug. 20 

THE Satya Sai Trust of Puttaparthi, which is spending over Rs 200 
crore to upgrade the canal between Kandaleru and Poondi under the 
Telugu Ganga project, is willing to further fund the project in 
Tamil Nadu, according to Mr A. Ramakrishna, President and Deputy 
Managing Director, Larsen & Toubro Ltd. 

Addressing a seminar on emerging trends and technologies in water 
organised by the Confederation of Indian Industry, here on 
Wednesday, he said that the trust was willing to make available the 
required funds to upgrade the canal between the Poondi and 
Sholavaram. This was crucial to completion of the project that will 
assure water supply to Chennai. L&T has been working on upgrading 
the 150 km canal between Kandaleru and the zero point on the border 
of Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh over the last seven months with a 
work force of 4,000. It has provided a concrete lining to the canal 
and heightened the Kandaleru reservoir to enable water to flow 
freely. The work is expected to be completed in a fortnight, and 
Tamil Nadu should be prepared to receive the water that can flow if 
rainfall enhances water availability in the reservoirs in Andhra 
Pradesh. 

However, the Poondi reservoir and the canal to Sholavaram are in a 
bad shape and need to be upgraded, he said. 

He offered to act as a `messenger' between Tamil Nadu and the Sai 
Baba Trust if the Government was willing to make the appropriate 
request for funds. 

Mr Ramakrishna said that while the project was envisaged to carry 
over 15-tmcft water with Andhra Pradesh, Maharashtra and Karnataka 
providing five tmcft each. However, not more than 2 - 3 tmcft have 
flowed through the canals, he said. Governments, corporates and NGOs 
need to work together for implementing fast track water supply 
projects. This route is better than the competitive lending route. 
Effective policies for water management are needed including levy of 
user charges, he said. 

The Tamil Nadu Minister for Local Administration, Mr M.C. Sampath, 
said that the Government was working on an integrated water 
management policy. The intervention will cover areas such as water 
conservation, ground water recharge and augmentation of ground water 
resources and reduction of wastage. 

The Government was hoping to supply 40 litres water per capita per 
day in the rural areas. If rain water harvesting was fully harvested 
in the 174 square km area under Chennai Corporation, it would make 
available 125 litre per capita per day making the city self-
sufficient, he said.
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The Telegraph

Thursday August 21, 12:44 AM

Jaya in Sai Baba funds spot
By Our Special Correspondent

Chennai, Aug. 20: The Jayalalithaa government is in a dilemma over
approaching Sathya Sai Baba to seek funds for the Telugu-Ganga
project, under which it was agreed that Krishna water will be
supplied to Chennai.

Tamil Nadu is supposed to get 12tmcft of Krishna water under the
project. Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu, when he
was in Chennai recently, said he was keen to supply Krishna water
but the inflows into the reservoirs in his state had been
disappointing and there was no water to give.

But even when Andhra has enough storage in the Shomashila reservoir,
from where the waters flow downstream to Kandaleru reservoir and
then to the 'zero point' on the border with Tamil Nadu, the flow is
meagre because of seepage in the Kandaleru-Poondi canal, the last
link in the project.

Andhra has now taken up fresh lining of the canal at considerable
cost. Sathya Sai Baba, the spiritual leader who lives at
Puttaparthi, has substantially funded the effort that will alleviate
Chennai's acute water shortage.

The work should be over by September 2003, according to A.
Ramakrishna, president and deputy managing director of Larsen and
Toubro, which is doing the relining. Sathya Sai Baba was "willing to
spend a little more money" for repair on the Tamil Nadu side if the
state approached him "in the necessary fashion" and even "sent a
messenger, if need be, to meet the Swamiji", Ramakrishna said.

He was speaking at a CII-sponsored seminar today on Emerging Trends
and Technologies in Water.

Getting financial assistance from the godman would help speed up the
repair, Ramakrishna reasoned, turning towards the state local
administration and urban water supply minister M.C. Sampath.

But for a faint smile, the Tamil Nadu minister did not respond. In
his address later, Sampath made no reference to this suggestion,
which was first mooted some months ago in the Assembly by Congress
leader S.R. Balasubramoniyan.

The minister merely said the Jayalalithaa government was working on
an integrated water management policy.
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