Irrigation: much needs to be done

The TRS government’s dreams of stabilising irrigation facility in at least one lakh acres in every Assembly constituency is a tall order even for the next four years as its plans have gone awry

May 28, 2015 01:30 pm | Updated 01:30 pm IST - HYDERABAD:

The irrigation profile of Telangana has not changed much even a year after the formation of the State, except for some progress made in the restoration and revival of minor irrigation tanks taken up under the government’s flagship scheme – Mission Kakatiya.

The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government’s dreams of creating/stabilising irrigation facility in at least one lakh acres in every Assembly constituency is a tall order even for the next four years as its plans have gone awry. Most of the government’s dream projects, including Palamuru-Ranga Reddy, Jurala-Pakhala, Nakkalagandi and Pranahita-Chevella, all power-intensive lift irrigation projects, are still at the conception and planning stage or in the process of modification.

“Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has a very clear vision of developing the irrigation sector by minimising disputes with neighbouring States. It’s for this reason that there has been some delay in grounding new projects. Projects such as Pranahita-Chevella, which have already been taken up, will also be speeded up once modifications in the design are completed,” Advisor to the State government on Irrigation, R. Vidyasagar Rao, said.

The State government has made a budgetary provision of Rs.11,734 crore, including Rs.8,500 crore for planned expenditure this year (2015-16). However, a lion’s share of the allocation is being utilised for the restoration of over 6,100 minor irrigation tanks, works on which are already under way. The allocation made during the previous year was largely spent on clearing pending bills as there was no notable progress on any ongoing project.

“The government is still indulging in making tall claims instead of showing its resolve on the ground. With most of the major projects planned by the government in the nascent stage, chances of utilising the budgetary provision are remote,” Congress Legislature Party (CLP) leader K. Jana Reddy remarked.

Sources in the Irrigation Department stated that modifications in the design of Pranahita-Chevella are in the final stages as the Chief Minister has already indicated that construction of the main barrage at Tummidihatti in Adilabad district was not possible due to the objections of Maharashtra. Similarly, it is not useful if the barrage height is reduced. “Such scenario increases the possibility of shifting the main barrage site to Medigadda in Karimnagar district,” the sources said.

However, Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao said the injustice done to Telangana in combined Andhra Pradesh during the last six decades could not be set right overnight. “As the Chief Minister says repeatedly, irrigation projects for Telangana in the past were designed in a way that they remain incomplete for decades together either due to disputes with neighbouring States or due to technical problems,” the Minister stated, adding that their aim was to design projects in such a manner that they were completed in time, as planned.

Though developing the irrigation sector was one of the main slogans of the TRS as part of its “neelu, nidhulu, niyamakalu” (rightful share in river waters, funds and jobs) demand during the movement for statehood to Telangana, there has been no substantial progress.

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