The State government is gearing up to conduct environmental impact assessment and prepare environment management plan pertaining to the ambitious Kaleshwaram project.
The development comes in the light of the forest clearance accorded by the Union Environment and Forest Ministry recently. The government had received terms of reference for the project with a rider that it obtain the clearances from the Central Water Commission and prepare a detailed project report relating to the project, involving an estimated expenditure of ₹ 80,499 crore.
The Kaleshwaram project envisages construction of a barrage across the Godavari near Medigadda village in Karimnagar district for diversion of 180 TMC of water. This would provide irrigation to 7.3 lakh hectares spanning the erstwhile districts of Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Warangal, Medak, Nalgonda and Rangareddy besides serving the drinking water needs of the twin cities.
Senior officials said the process for obtaining environmental clearances from the concerned Union Ministry would be initiated soon and it was expected to take more than nine months for obtaining the data required. “The clearances require data pertaining to the three seasons, spanning over nine months and we have initiated the work to obtain the data,” a senior official said.
Officials are sore that the Union Ministry was still insisting on following “outdated” rules that were delaying the implementation of the projects. This had become a cause of concern for the State government as it had adverse impact on the time lines for the execution of the projects. Meanwhile, the Irrigation department is anxiously waiting for the meeting of the Krishna River Management Board for finalising the share of waters for the current year. The allocations were expected to be made before the commencement of the crop season, but officials did not receive any communication from the KRMB till date regarding finalisation of the quantum that the State was entitled to.
The department had addressed a letter to the Union Water Resources Ministry in this direction and had been awaiting for a response. “The KRMB officials are showing a slant towards Andhra Pradesh and this has become a cause of concern for us,” an official said.
