Hyderabad: Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday, March 8, said that he will make the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme fully operational in the next 20 months. He also vowed to complete the Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bhima, and Koilsagar projects by March 2027, and by utilising the state’s full share of water from the Krishna river.
At a review meeting of irrigation works in Telangana, Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the ruling Congress government here had spent Rs 7161 crore on the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme from December 7, 2023, till date. He stated that the government also spent Rs 6718 crores on the implementation of the project works, Rs 284.71 crores on land acquisition, Rs 63.65 crores on Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R), and Rs 94 crores on other project-related heads.
The Telangana Irrigation minister claimed that the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) had secured an administrative approval for Rs 35,200 crores but that the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government spent only about Rs 27,000 crore by the time of their exit. He noted that the projects were subjected “to neglect” ever since the BRS came to power in 2014.
During the meeting, he also announced a special drive to fast-track works on the key irrigation projects intended to benefit erstwhile Mahbubnagar by extending the required fund support and other south Telangana districts by extending the required resource support.
“Reviewing the status of the works on the projects in the region, he asserted that the state will make full utilisation of its entitlement to river waters without losing a drop. He stated that the government is firm on stepping up the pace of the works in progress with specific allocations of Rs 909 crore for Kalwakurthy, Rs 252 crore for Nettempadu, Rs 200 crores for Bhima, and Rs 185 crores for Koilsagar over the next one year,” said a press release from his office.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also said that the Congress government here is fast-tracking land acquisition as well as rehabilitation activity (R&R). He added that the land acquisition was given top priority with a decision to complete it under key projects all over the state by releasing Rs 5000 crore by June 2 this year.
Uttam criticizes changes in projects
At the review meeting, he also criticized changes like shifting the off-take point for the Palamuru- Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme from Jurala to Srisailam, which the minister said increased lift costs and put the state at a disadvantage. He pointed out at similar issues with the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, for which he said that the previous BRS government changed the key source from Tummidi Hatti to Medigadda.
He accused the BRS of indulging in false propaganda on the irrigation projects. Uttam Kumar Reddy claimed that only one pump of the Palamuru- Rangareddy Lift Scheme was put to operation for hardly one hour in September 2023 without irrigating even one acre effectively.
Will utilise Telangana’s rightful share of Krishna water: Uttam
The Minister asserted that the Congress government would be fully utilizing Telangana’s rightful share of Krishna River waters without conceding even a drop. He claimed record agricultural achievements in the Krishna basin under the current regime, including the highest cropped area, paddy production, and procurement compared to the 10-year BRS rule and even in the undivided Andhra Pradesh.
Referring to the recent Kharif season, he cited 148.5 lakh metric tonnes of paddy production (highest in India among states) and around 72 lakh metric tonnes of procurement under the minimum support operations, injecting approximately 20,000 crores directly into farmers’ accounts.
