In a major boost to the plans of the Irrigation Department to speed up works on the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), the Forest Conservation Division of the Ministry of Environment, Forests & Climate Change (MoEF) has accorded Stage-II (final) forest clearance to the project.
In a communication, Deputy Inspector-General of Forests in the MoEF Shrawan Kumar Verma stated on Friday that diversion of 205.48 hectares (514 acres) of forest land in Achampet division of Nagarkurnool district had been given final approval on the basis of compliance report furnished by the State Government.
Diversion of the forest land is meant for work of Lift-I pump-house, formation of Anjanagiri reservoir, earth work, excavation and construction of a tunnel between Anjanagiri reservoir at Narlapur and Veeranjaneya reservoir at Yedula. Conditions prescribed for diversion of the land include taking up compensatory afforestation in land equal to that diverted and construction of civil structures in such a way as to allow smooth passage of wild animals.
“The Stage-II forest clearance is expected to have an impact on the National Green Tribunal hearing on a petition filed by B. Harshavardhan Reddy alleging that Palamuru-Rangareddy project works were taken up without getting clearances/approvals. Next hearing on the petition is scheduled for February 14. Besides, it will help expedite environmental clearance to the project,” a senior irrigation engineer said.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao expressed happiness over the project getting one more important clearance.
In a statement, he thanked Union Minister for Environment and Forests Harsh Vardhan and appreciated the efforts of officials of the Irrigation and Forest Departments in getting the approval.
The project seeks to lift 90 TMC ft of flood waters at the rate of 1.5 TMC per day for 60 days from the foreshores of the Srisailam reservoir at Yellur in Kollapur mandal of Nagarkurnool district. The water drawn would be lifted in five stages for a total height of 540 metres with Laxmidevipally reservoir having the highest elevation point.
The project planned during 2013 in combined Andhra Pradesh and redesigned in Telangana plans to irrigate 12.3 lakh acres, including 7 lakh acres in erstwhile Mahabubnagar, 5 lakh acres in Rangareddy and 0.3 lakh acres in Nalgonda districts benefiting a total of 1,131 villages for irrigation and drinking needs.
It would displace only three villages and 20 tribal habitations having 2,781 houses and the total area of submergence would be 25,274 acres, including government and forest lands.
