Green hurdles continue to delay the implementation of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) in its full scope as a recent meeting of the expert appraisal committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forest (MoEF) has faulted the Irrigation Department for not calculating the environmental damage costs as per the standard operating procedure, even after executing several components without environmental clearance.
After a National Green Tribunal (NGT) order given on December 22, 2022, in a petition on violations in the project, only the drinking water components for utilisation of 7.15 tmc ft water are allowed to be executed by paying costs of environmental damage. The order had stated that irrigation components of the project could be executed only after obtaining environmental clearance.
The PRLIS proposal has been under consideration of the expert appraisal panel since September last year. The Irrigation Department has already agreed to submit a bank guarantee for ₹142.49 crore for remediation and community resource augmentation plans as finalised by the regulatory authority prior to getting environmental clearance. The detailed project report of PRLIS is under scrutiny in different Directorates of the Central Water Commission.
According to the project authorities, the consolidated cost of environmental management plans, remediation, natural and community augmentation plans has been worked out at ₹6,124.37 crore. On the other hand, the NGT has slapped environmental compensation of ₹621 crore for PRLIS and the linked component of Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme (DLIS). Of it,₹300 crore was supposed to be deposited with Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) by March 22 this year. However, the Supreme Court has stayed the payment of compensation till the matter is heard next (in August).
On the directions of NGT, the MoEF has constituted a six-member committee already with a mandate to finalise mitigation, restoration and rehabilitation measures needed to undo the environmental damage caused within a year. The project authorities stated that they would calculate the environmental damage costs as suggested by the expert committee of the MoEF along with remediation plan and community augmentation plan in a table format for consideration of the project by the committee for environmental clearance.
