Tirupati: Sagarmala comes to aid of Pulicat lake

Tirupati : The long-pending proposal for opening of sea mouth into the Pulicat lake in Rayadaruvu on the northern side of Satish Dhawan Space Centre is becoming a reality when Chief Minister YS Jagan Mohan Reddy will be laying foundation stone for the works on November 21.

The move will facilitate increased water flow into the Pulicat lake and help maintain the environment ecosystem. It will also benefit about 20,000 fishermen's livelihood in about 20 habitations in the area in a big way. Though the sea mouth’s got opened wide due to the impact of Tsunami in 2004, the unusual sand accumulations made the sea mouths narrowed down completely in 2008 as there is no flow of fresh water into the lake.

Tirupati MP Dr M Gurumoorthy has made several efforts in getting approvals from the Central government for opening of sea mouth into the lake and pursued the matter with the Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways continuously and made it possible. He said that the Ministry was committed to provide assistance for the restoration of the Pulicat lake ecosystem under the Coastal community development pillar of Sagarmala programme for which the state government also sent the proposal.

The cost of the project is estimated at Rs128.20 crore of which the state government should bear 50 per cent. Once completed the project will ensure availability of abundant fish in the brackish water lake.

In this backdrop to make the CM programme all success, Minister Peddireddy Ramachandra Reddy, Deputy CM K Narayana Swamy, MP Dr M Gurumoorthy, Sullurpet MLA K Sanjeevaiah, Collector K Venkataramana Reddy, SP P Parameswar Reddy and others visited Sullurpet on Friday and reviewed the arrangements for the CM's visit. They examined the helipad and public meeting places at the Apachi industry in Mambattu of Tada mandal.

Speaking on the occasion, Deputy CM Narayana Swamy and Minister Peddireddy asked the officials to work in coordination and make the programme a success.

Collector Venkataramana Reddy stated that CM will take part in various programmes in Sullurpet on the occasion of the World Fishermen’s Day on November 21. All the officials who were entrusted duties for CM's visit should focus on them and ensure no issues.

SP Parameswar Reddy said that the police has been making foolproof security arrangements for the CM's visit. He also discussed about the road map of the CM's visit with officials. The SP asked the police officials to make foolproof barricading and other arrangements for the smooth conduct of the CM's programme.