Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao today emphasized the need for linking and protecting the rivers for improving agriculture production. He asked Maharashtra to avoid wasting about 200 tmc waters into Arabia Sea and turn the same into Krishna River to make ample use of waters for power production and irrigation. Addressing a workshop on Krishna Rejuvenation program at Institute of Engineers here he said that Telangana Government is according top priority for irrigation Projects.
If Maharashtra releases waters after power production, Telangana can take up power production at five places he opined. Kaleshwaram being completed on a war-footing will irrigate 37 lakh acres and credit goes to Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao. This project on completion will have waters for 365 days and KCR is only the Chief Minister in the country to spend huge funds for the irrigation sector, he claimed. It is good to take up a program for Krishna rejuvenation and one has to vie for protecting the lakes, Harish Rao said.
Involvement of people, farmers and coordination among departments will prove handy to protect lakes and bring more cultivable land under irrigation, the minister said. He also called upon for preparing plans to make ample use of waters from going waste into seas across the country.
The states will flourish if such waters are used avoiding waste, the irrigation minister said. Lakes and water bodies were totally destroyed when Telangana formed he said. Stating that rejuvenation of Maner and Musi rivers was going on he said that the TRS Government increased water table by Mission Kakatiya program to revive 46000 lakes. Farmers and workers migrated to other places due to rainfall shortage in Krishna basin and with the government irrigating 6.5 lakh acres they returned homes, he said.
Health Minister Lakshma Reddy, Waterman of India Rajender Singh, planning commission deputy chairman Niranjan Reddy, Water Resources Chairman V Prakash and others were present. (NSS)