New Delhi, Jul 30 - Satya
Sai Baba of Puttaparthi in Anantapur district is personally monitoring
a drinking water project that will supply water to Chennai.
A private charitable trust, Sri Satya Drinking
Water Project, run under the godman’s supervision, is set to supply
drinking water to Chennai by August. Satya Sai Baba has stepped in to
complete the Telugu Ganga Project, which was designed to carry Krishna
waters from Andhra Pradesh to Chennai, to meet the drinking water
requirements of the Tamil Nadu capital.
Both the Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu governments
are cooperating with Sai Baba in the speedy execution of the drinking
water project. The Telugu Ganga Project launched, with a commitment of
15 tmc ft water, with each State of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra
Pradesh pledging 5 tmc ft water for the project, to meet the drinking
water requirement for Chennai. Basically, the Krishna river water was
to be stored in Srisailam Dam in Andhra Pradesh and was to be brought
by a canal to a reservoir called Kandaleru. Then, the water was to be
taken to Tamil Nadu border through a 150 km-long canal to the Poondi
reservoir near Chennai.
The TGP got embroiled in a controversy, with
Central clearance not forthcoming. The late NTR had gone ahead with
the project, even without Central clearance. The Chandrababu Naidu
government is cooperating with Sai Baba, to make the pledge a reality.
Technical examination revealed that water flow to Chennai was minimal,
because the original Telugu Ganga Canal linking Kandaleru in Andhra
Pradesh to Poondi in Tamil Nadu had become dilapidated.
So it was literally decided to rebuild the 150
km-long canal. The Satya Sai Trust has taken upon itself the funding
of the entire project
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