Centre ignores Telangana efforts in revival of water bodies

Hyderabad: Mission Kakatiya, a flagship programme of the Telangana government, has proved to be highly successful in terms of rejuvenating village tanks and other water bodies in the State, besides recharging groundwater levels. For this, it has won accolades from Niti Aayog. But the Centre has failed to appreciate the State government’s efforts, which is […]

Hyderabad: Mission Kakatiya, a flagship programme of the Telangana government, has proved to be highly successful in terms of rejuvenating village tanks and other water bodies in the State, besides recharging groundwater levels. For this, it has won accolades from Niti Aayog.

But the Centre has failed to appreciate the State government’s efforts, which is evident in the fact that not a single rupee was released for Telangana under the Repair, Renovation and Restoration (RRR) of Water Bodies scheme in the last four years despite the Niti Aayog recommending Central financial assistance for Mission Kakatiya.

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Since 2018-19, the Centre has been extending financial assistance to various States and UTs under the Surface Minor Irrigation (SMI) and RRR schemes. Telangana, unfortunately, does not figure anywhere on the list. This was admitted by union Minister of State for Jal Shakthi Bishweswar Tudu in Lok Sabha on Thursday.

While 17 States and UTs were provided financial assistance under the SMI scheme, Telangana did not get a single rupee. Similarly, under the RRR scheme, Gujarat and Tamil Nadu received funds, but Telangana was left out.

The union Minister, replying to MP Manoj Tiwari’s question, said water was a State subject and the Centre only supplements the efforts of States on water conservation and recharge, including rainwater conservation and harvesting, through technical and financial support.

The Centre has been implementing various schemes, including the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS), Atal Mission for Rejuvenation and Urban Transformation (AMRUT) and Pradhan Mantri Krishi Sichai Yojana (PMKSY), he said.

Telangana faced discrimination even under the 15th Finance Commission Tied Grants assistance which could have been used for rainwater harvesting and water recycling. In 2020-21 and 2021-22, BJP-ruled Gujarat was allocated Rs 3,014.7 crore, of which Rs 2,306.1 crore was released. In the 2022-23 fiscal, Rs 1,467.60 crore has been allocated.

Similarly, Karnataka was allocated Rs 3,034.7 crore and the entire amount was released. In the 2022-23 fiscal, Rs 1,477.8 crore has been allocated.

However, for Telangana, Rs 1,742.5 crore was allocated and Rs 1,333.5 crore released. For the 2022-23 fiscal, Rs 849 crore has been allocated.