Jal Jeevan Mission to touch 3.3 crore people

Targets Rayalaseema transformation

Metro India News | PRODDUTUR : Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu on Monday launched the Rs 30,156-crore Amarajeevi Jaladhara program under Jal Jeevan Mission 2.0 at Proddatur, promising to expand safe piped drinking water coverage across rural Andhra Pradesh while positioning irrigation, horticulture and industry as the pillars of Rayalaseema’s economic transformation. Chandrababu Naidu and Deputy Chief Minister K. Pawan Kalyan unveiled the project’s pylon at Kothapalli and inaugurated the works. The program envisages 27.36 lakh new household tap connections, strengthening supplies to 61.60 lakh existing connections across 24,601 habitations.

The government plans to construct 13,075 overhead storage reservoirs and 77,243 km of pipelines, with the program expected to provide safe drinking water to about 3.3 crore people. The CM said the initiative would particularly reduce the burden on women who spend time and money securing drinking water. He said the State was simultaneously pursuing broader rural infrastructure through Palle Panduga 3.0, with Rs 11,085 crore allocated for roads, drains, street lighting and other works, and projected Rs 1.30 lakh crore in rural infrastructure expenditure over the coming years.

Pawan Kalyan said the program covered 50,315 works, including single-village schemes, retrofitting and 32 multi-village schemes. He said Rs 19,500 crore had been earmarked for multi-village schemes and Rs 9,000 crore for single-village and retrofitting works, while Rs 1,624 crore had been allocated for water-quality monitoring. The Proddatur speech also saw the CM  sharply attack the YSR Congress Party, particularly over the murder of former minister Y.S. Vivekananda Reddy.

 Referring to the investigation and allegations surrounding the case, Chief Minister claimed that the identity of the ultimate beneficiary had emerged and referred to an alleged Rs 40-crore supari. He also alleged large-scale irregularities in the previous government’s liquor policy, sand operations and Group-I recruitment and challenged the YSRCP leadership to respond to the allegations. 

Calling for continued coordination between the Centre, State and local bodies, the Chief Minister said the NDA alliance sought a triple-engine government to accelerate development. He said Rayalaseema needed water, industries, employment and better governance rather than political conflict, and reiterated his government’s objective of making the region a major growth centre.