Hyderabad government to rope in students for survey

Visakhapatnam: Students from engineering and medical colleges in the state will soon be sent to villages for surveys at the ground level on status of health, irrigation and agriculture, irrigation minister Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao said on Tuesday.
The heads of various universities and colleges have already been issued instructions to prepare students for the Neeru Chettu programme slated to be held on January 27 and 28 across the state.
Speaking at a review meet on Tuesday, the minister said upon instructions from chief minister Chandrababu Naidu, students will be taken for survey and interactive sessions with villagers to improve government projects and schemes.
“The students will have to give lectures and seminars at the villages about the advancement in technology in health, irrigation and other sectors to the rural people. All these programme will be held under Neeru Chettu on January 27 and 28,” Uma Maheswara Rao said.
Andhra University vice-chancellor Prof G Nageswara Rao will lead the programme in the three north coastal districts of Srikakulam, Vizianagaram and Visakhapatnam.
“For survey of irrigation projects, we will take students from engineering colleges. We will consider their ideas, suggestions and even partner them in various irrigation projects,” the minister said.
At the review meeting, the minister instructed the officials to speed up various pending irrigation projects in the north coastal districts. He also said steps were being taken to pump water of river Godavari into the left main canal of Polavaram major irrigation project in the next nine months to benefit people of the north coastal districts mainly Visakhapatnam city. He said contractors who delayed project would be blacklisted.
The irrigation minister also instructed officials to complete the pending Kanithi balancing reservoir project’s extension works at the earliest. He inspected the ongoing project works with the officials from Vizag Steel Plant and Greater Visakhapatnam Municipal Corporation on Tuesday.