Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao along with his Cabinet colleagues – Health Minister Laxma Reddy and J. Krishna Rao – will be visiting Bengaluru on Thursday to meet Karnataka Irrigation Minister M.B. Patil to discuss the modernisation of Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS). The Minister, in a press release here on Wednesday, informed that the scheme was to provide 15.9 tmc of water to Mahabubnagar district to irrigate 87,500 acres. but at present, not even five tmc of water is flowing.
The then AP government had in fact sanctioned Rs. 72 crore to modernise the RDS and also increase the height of the barrage by 15 cm. A sum of Rs. 58 crore was also deposited with the Karnataka government as the barrage site was on its land, but the work progress has been tardy due to which farmers on both sides were getting agitated. The RDS traverses up to 40 km in the Karnataka State before getting into TS. Mr. Rao is going to Bengaluru on the invitation of Mr. Patil to thrash out a solution to the problem pending for the last three years. Principle Secretary, Irrigation, S.K. Joshi and Officer on Special Duty, Sridhar Rao Deshpande, too would be accompanying the Ministerial team, the release added.
