An additional ₹905 crore has been allocated in the State Budget towards relief and rehabilitation (R&R) compensation for displaced families and for filling the Nallamalasagar reservoir, Water Resources Minister Nimmala Ramanaidu said during an inspection of the Veligonda project works at Dornala in Markapuram district on Tuesday.

Accompanied by district officials, the Minister visited the twin tunnels of the project and reviewed the ongoing tunnel lining works as well as the removal of the tunnel boring machine (TBM) from Tunnel-2.

Addressing the media, Mr. Ramanaidu said the construction of the retaining wall, wing walls and return walls for the head regulators had been completed.

He said that, to enable the flow of 1 TMC of water from Kollam Vagu into the tunnels, 58,000 cubic metres of muck had been removed out of the total 1.80 lakh cubic metres accumulated in the area. In Tunnel-1, 40,000 cubic metres of muck had been cleared so far from the total 1.20 lakh cubic metres obstructing the flow of water.

The Minister said more than 5.5 km of the total 7-km lining work in Tunnel-2 had been completed during the 20 months since the coalition government assumed office. The remaining 1.5 km is expected to be completed by the end of July, he said.

Mr. Ramanaidu said the 5.3-km retaining wall for the feeder canal, the construction of which commenced in January, had been completed within five months.

Referring to the tunnel boring machine that got stuck in Tunnel-2 during the previous YSRCP government, he said retrieval operations were taken up following directions from the Andhra Pradesh High Court. Of the seven compartments of the machine, three have been successfully extracted so far, he said, adding that the possibility of burying the cutter head within the tunnel was being examined.

The Minister directed officials and agency representatives to speed up the 21-km lining work, which he said was progressing slowly. He added that construction of a cement concrete wall to plug the major breach in the feeder canal caused by Cyclone Montha was nearing completion.

Works on the Teegaleru Canal and the Eastern Main Canal would be completed by the end of June, he said.

Responding to criticism from YSRCP leaders that adequate funds were not being allocated to the Veligonda project, Mr. Ramanaidu said displaced families had not received compensation during the previous five years. The coalition government, he said, had allocated funds in the Budget and was committed to addressing their concerns.