Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao has asked officials of Irrigation Department to focus on the work on the Kaleshwaram Project as the project was receiving necessary clearances in a speedy manner.
The project received hydrology, inter-State, forest, construction machinery and other clearances in the last 15 days and it was time the officials concerned focussed on the work, he opined. The Minister conducted a marathon review on the ongoing work, especially those launched on packages 10 to 14 with senior officials on Monday.
He interacted with the officials on the problems faced in land acquisition and work pertaining to construction of Anantagiri, Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar reservoirs along with pump house, surge pool, tunnels and canals.
The officials informed the Minister that land owners were obstructing work at some places as acquisition process was not completed while standing crop on the land that was acquired delayed work on the project.
Mr. Harish Rao wanted the executing agencies to work in coordination with the collectors and revenue divisional officers to complete the land acquisition process at the earliest so that work could be taken up. He was unhappy that lining work launched on tunnels was progressing at a slower pace in spite of completion of digging and wanted the officials concerned to deploy more machinery wherever needed to complete the work within specified time frame.
Pending designs should be completed fast and the officials should serve notices on the agencies that were lagging behind in completing the work entrusted to them. Simultaneously, efforts should be made to launch work pertaining to construction of sub-stations and power lines for supplying power to pump houses, he added.
The officials should ensure that the work gets completed in all respects by June next year so that water could be released in time. In the process, they should prepare estimates of canals that were proposed for Kondapochamma Sagar Reservoir so that approvals could be granted in time.
The officials informed Mr. Harish Rao that the Department had acquired 11,187 acres out of the 13,969 acres required for the project. The Minister wanted the officials to ensure that the process of acquiring the remaining land too was completed speedily so that there was no delay in commissioning the project, according to an official release.
