The project involves laying a forty-five kilometre pipeline to draw water from the Yeleswaram Reservoir. The move comes as the city’s existing sources—Aratlakatta summer tank in Kakinada Rural mandal and Maharshi Sambamurthy tank in Samalkot—have become inefficient due to ageing infrastructure and silt accumulation.

Kakinada, a designated smart city with a population of over three hundred and twenty-six thousand and more than ninety thousand public tap connections, currently receives forty-five Mn litres per day (MLD) from the Victoria Water Plant. Water from Aratlakatta is filtered and distributed via seventeen overhead tanks.

An additional forty MLD is treated at the Sashikant Nagar plant, which sources water from Samalkot through a network passing Achampet Junction and Sarpavaram. This is further distributed to tanks in areas including Gaigolupadu, Venkatnagar, Sambamurthynagar, and Sanjaynagar.

With future expansion plans and the pending merger of six surrounding villages into the city limits, demand is expected to rise significantly.

Source: The New Indian Express