Harish earns recognition at national level

Hyderabad: It is a major achievement for Minister for Major Irrigation T Harish Rao since his recommendations with regard to preparing a road map for grounding 46 irrigation projects across the country are well-received at the national level.
The Minister has earned recognition at the national level as majority of his suggestions were taken into consideration by Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharati at a recently held seminar at Vignan Bhavan in New Delhi on “Integrated approach for sustainable water management.”
Taking cue from his suggestions, the Union Minister constituted a committee and Harish Rao was appointed as its member. Harish has earned recognition at the national level as majority of his suggestions were taken into consideration by Union Minister for Water Resources Uma Bharati at a recently held seminar at Vignan Bhavan in New Delhi on “Integrated approach for sustainable water management.” As part of Prime Minister Krishi Sachai Yojana (PMKSY), the Centre has proposed to prepare guidelines for execution of 46 major irrigation projects in the country.
Taking cue from his suggestions, the Union Minister constituted a committee and Harish Rao was appointed as its member. The national water resources coordination committee is holding its first-ever meeting in New Delhi on Saturday and Harish Rao will be participating as a member. The committee will prepare a roadmap to complete 46 irrigation project identified by the Centre. His impressive speech at the seminar drew the attention of national players in the irrigation sector and lauded by the stakeholders of the PMKSY project.
The minister highlighted his vision on the approvals and execution of irrigation projects. He opined that the delays in according permissions should be curtailed and underscored the need for a total revamp of existing system to minimize the project cost. Harish Rao had explained that when the government has tenure of five years to rule, the construction of the projects was taking years together causing heavy burden on the government’s exchequer.
He suggested that the officials of the Water Resources Department and Environment Department should have frequent meetings and hasten the issuance of permissions. Stating that the separate Telangana movement was spearheaded only for water, funds and jobs, Harish Rao demanded that Kaleswaram lift irrigation project should also be included under PMKSY as only Devadula project was given the status.
The Committee’s meeting which will be held under the chairmanship of Chattisgarh Minister and its chairman Brijmohan is likely to take major decisions. Telangana and Maharashtra ministers Harish Rao, Girish Dattathreya Mahajan and secretaries of irrigation from various states will participate in the meeting. (NSS)