TS moves to resolve inter-State row

Following Maharashtra’s strong objection to the project, the government shifts the proposed barrage site to Karimnagar District.

Has the State government managed to resolve inter-State issues by proposing to change the barrage site of the ambitious Pranahita-Chevella project or will the same continue to haunt it at the new place too? Despite selecting a spot nearly 120 km away from the project across the Godavari, the height of the barrage, the extent of area under submergence in Maharashtra and the utility of the project to the neighbouring State is likely to crop up again as the proposed site is also located on the inter-State border, according to experts.

Following Maharashtra’s strong objection on these counts, the TRS government decided to shift the barrage across Pranahita near Tummidihatti in Adilabad district to Medigadda in Mahadevpur mandal of Karimnagar district. However, there is a large tract of land that is environmentally sensitive across the border in Gadchiroli district, which is likely to be affected, the extent depending upon the height of the barrage again.

The public sector Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS) has been asked to prepare a detailed project report (DPR) with express instructions to eliminate the possibility of land submergence. It’s to be seen whether the consultancy agency will pull this off as a barrage at stream prism level will result in storage of only 5 tmc ft of water.

“If this is done, the State government will not have to contend with the issue of relevance of the project to Maharashtra. It can go ahead on its own,” affirmed a senior Irrigation Engineer.

Another major area of concern is the relevance, or irrelevance for that matter, of the canal and other works of the project in Adilabad district. Already, Rs. 1,000 crore has been spent on such works after much dislocation in terms of land acquisition.

Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao, nevertheless, promised a few days ago that all the ayacut proposed under the project in the district would get water. About 56,000 acres of land was to have been irrigated through canals in the eastern side of the district.

Though seemingly not very important, the government will also be faced with the question of changing the name of the project. “There is no logic in continuing with Pranahita as the barrage, if the starting point of the project is being shifted to Karimnagar,” was how another engineer put it.