The Seetharam Sagar project, which is being launched by the Chief Minister, Dr Y.S. Rajasekhar Reddy, on Tuesday, is a dream come true for the people of water starved Udayagiri. The proposal for the project has been in the air for a decade but it had not been taken up by successive governments. In the preliminary report of Veligonda project prepared in1989, the Seetharam Sagar project was proposed at the tail end of Veligonda western canal, with a storage capacity of 5 tmc. The project was meant to irrigate about 30,000 acres in Udayagiri, Seetharampuram and Marripadu mandals of Nellore district. However, when the final project report was approved in 1994, the Seetharam Sagar proposal was kept in abeyance because of some technical and economic reasons. Because of this, the ayacut in Nellore district under the Veligonda project was shortened by 7,500 acres in Seetharampuram mandal. In the approved project report, which was being implemented at present, the eastern main canal starts from Nallamala Sagar reservoir and empties in to Peddireddipalli reservoir, before irrigating an ayacut of 24,500 acres in Nellore district. The Udayagiri branch canal takes off from Peddareddipalli reservoir to serve an ayacut of 52,000 acres in Nellore district thus bringing the total ayacut to 76,500 acres. A branch of the eastern main canal called as Veligonda western branch canal will serve an ayacut of 25,600 acres in Giddaluru, Racherla, Komarolu, Bestavaripeta and Cumbum mandals of Prakasam district. It will also provide irrigation to 25,400 acres in Porumamilla and Kalasapadu mandals of Kadapa district. As the ayacut is situated at high level than Nallamala Sagar reservoir, the western branch canal is proposed as a lift irrigation scheme. On the basis of requests from public and political leaders, the government had ordered a feasibility study on the ayacut in Seetharampuram mandal in Nellore district. Accordingly, an estimate for Rs 152 crore was prepared to irrigate the ayacut of 7,500 acres the mandal by extending the Porumamilla major of western branch canal and formation of Seetharampuram reservoir.