Telangana State Planning Board Vice-Chairman B. Vinod Kumar has said that the government is actively working on utilising the resources of MG National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) for restoration of water channels to provide better irrigation facilities in villages across the State.
The focus of the Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) government was on restoration of 46,000 water bodies across the State besides conceptualisation and execution of mega irrigation and drinking water projects. Mr. Vinod Kumar was speaking during release of book “Kakatiya Heritage” here on Sunday. He recalled how the Kakatiya kings constructed a network of tanks for irrigation purposes and supply of drinking water which gave a boost to the overall development trajectory.
Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao drew inspiration from these initiatives and focussed on restoration and rejuvenation of water bodies across the State. The successful execution of these works were instrumental in irrigating lakhs of acres land and ensuring supply of drinking water to all.
The book was based on papers presented at two national seminars on cultural heritage of Kakatiyas and irrigation structures and technological marvels during the Kakatiya period. Mr. Vinod Kumar said the monuments developed by the Kakatiya kings were masterpieces of human creative genius and underlined the need to restore them to their past glory. While restoration of the monuments was important in its own right, efforts should be made to see that there was no deviation from the original technology and construction style so as to ensure that their uniqueness was kept intact.
MCRHRD Institute Director-General B.P. Acharya said the significant feature that guided the ruling elite during the Kakatiya period was welfarism. Chairman of INTACH Telangana and AP chapters M. Gopalakrishna said the large empires across the south India were ahead of their times and made extensive use of technology for providing better irrigation facilities.
Kakatiya Heritage Trust trustee B.V. Papa Rao and others also spoke. A book entitled Janaganamana Telangana , authored by Shyam Mohan was also released on the occasion.
