The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has given its in-principle stage-I forest clearance for the Kaleshwaram project.
In a letter addressed to the State government, the Union Ministry allowed diversion of 3,168.13 hectares of forest land spread over eight forest divisions — Mahadevpur, Karimnagar-Sircilla, Siddipet, Yadadri, Medak, Nizamabad, Banswada and Nirmal — for taking up the project work.
The proposed project includes construction of canals, tunnels, lift systems, surge pool, delivery cisterns and reservoirs in different districts of the State.
Afforestation
The Ministry said, in its communication, that the legal status of the diverted land would remain unchanged and the State government should take up compensatory afforestation within a period of three years from the date of receipt of the stage-II forest clearance.
The Ministry issued a series of guidelines for taking up compensatory afforestation.
Stage-II
Stage-II clearance would be issued for the irrigation project in accordance with the provisions of the Forest (Conservation) Act, 1980 after the compliance report was submitted by the State government.
The State government should not transfer the land to the user agency till the receipt of final approval from the Central government for diversion of the forest land, the letter noted.
“Obtaining stage-I clearance is important for us. Stage-II involves payment of compensation to Forest department and related issues for handing over the land to the State,” a senior official explained.
