Adilabad: Chanaka-Korata barrage gets environmental clearance

In a major development, the centre has on Friday granted environmental clearance to Chanaka-Korata barrage on Penganga river inter state Irrigation Project situated in Adilabad district.

Hyderabad: In a major development, the centre has on Friday granted environmental clearance to Chanaka-Korata barrage on Penganga river inter state Irrigation Project situated in Adilabad district.

As per the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC), the Ministry of Environment, Forest & Climate Change approved the grant of environmental clearance to the project for construction of common components of barrage and canal works in Telangana. The order maintained that the environmental clearance to canal work of Maharashtra portion of the project might be considered after submission of necessary forest clearance.

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The Jal Shakti Ministry in November last year gave the nod for the construction of Chanaka-Korata Barrage along with Choutpally Hanumanth Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme in Nizamabad district, and the Mukteshwar (Chinna Kaleshwaram) Lift Irrigation Scheme (LIS) in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district.

The long pending inter-State project became a reality with the TRS government holding a series of consultations with its counterpart of Maharashtra in 2016. It is one of three projects jointly taken up by both Telangana and Maharashtra States, at an expenditure of Rs 1,568 crore. Accordingly, the works of the barrage, pump house, and canals were taken up at Korata village in Jainath mandal and Chanaka of neighboring Maharashtra State in 2018.

The barrage is aimed at providing irrigation facilities to ryots in four mandals under Boath and Adilabad segments. The construction of the barrage and erection of all 23 gates have been completed. The storage capacity of Chanaka-Korata is about 0.8 tmcft. An ayacut of 38,000 acres is to be irrigated with gravity canal and 13,500 acres with two motors with 5.5 MW capacity each have been proposed. In the upstream of the barrage, another 10,000 acres have been proposed under Pipalkoti barrage, which is yet to be constructed.

The then Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh governments had reached an understanding on October 6, 1975, to take up Lower Penganga project as an interstate joint project. But, there has been no much progress in the erstwhile AP.

As per the interstate agreement, the Maharashtra government has to construct Rajapet and Pimparad barrages. However, the Maharashtra government is yet to start the works. But, Telangana has completed Chanaka-Korata barrage, in which Maharashtra will have 20 per cent water share. Meanwhile, Telangana will get 50 per cent share of water in Rajapet and 30 per cent share of water in Pimparad barrages, to be constructed by Maharashtra.