Centre’s delay in permissions escalates project costs in Telangana
The Centre’s politically coloured attitude towards Telangana is continuing to throw obstacles for irrigation projects here.
Hyderabad: The Centre’s politically coloured attitude towards Telangana is continuing to throw obstacles for irrigation projects here. The State has once again pointed out that inordinate delays in granting clearance to various proposed and ongoing projects citing court cases and other excuses, was not just delaying the projects, but also resulting in massive cost escalation.
Though the State government has been submitting Detailed Project Reports of various projects on Godavari and Krishna rivers, a large number of projects are waiting for Central nod, some of them for over two years.
Special Chief Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar, during a Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) meeting here on Tuesday, raised the issue once again, stating that the delay in granting permissions to projects undertaken by Telangana on Godavari River was escalating the cost of the projects, putting an additional burden on the State.
“Due to clarifications being sought by the Centre and delay in granting various permissions, it is taking over 1.5 to two years to get clearances. Following this, the cost of the project is increasing by 20 to 25 percent, which is a huge burden for the State. All the clearances should come faster so that there is no cost escalation,” he said.
As if this was not enough, an increase in GST from 2 percent to 18 percent on irrigation project works has also increased the cost of the projects. “Due to the hike in GST, we have to now send a revised estimate for projects,” he said.
Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had expressed his anguish last year at the Central Water Commission (CWC) delaying clearances for half-a-dozen irrigation projects in the State though the DPRs were submitted long back. It was only after the Chief Minister’s intervention and relentless pressure from the State that the union Jal Shakti Ministry’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) in November last cleared three irrigation projects, viz., the Mukteshwara (Chinna Kaleshwaram) lift irrigation project in Jayashankar-Bhupalpally, Chanaka Korata barrage in Adilabad and Choutupally Hanmantha Reddy lift irrigation project in Nizamabad.
However, the Sitarama, Samakka Sagar and Mondikunta Vagu projects are still waiting for CWC clearance, officials said.
Even a revised DPR for the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme sent to the Centre for permission to lift an additional 1 TMC water is still pending. Meanwhile, the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme also got into a legal tangle due to the delay in granting necessary permissions from the CWC. The DPR of the Kadem-Gudem lift scheme, submitted to the CWC about two years ago, is also yet to get clearance.
According to a senior Irrigation Department official, the Centre was knowingly delaying clearances to the projects by citing pending cases in courts. “Though the Centre can continue administrative works pertaining to projects against whom cases are pending in court or National Green Tribunal (NGT), it is knowingly delaying the process causing hardships to the State government,” he said.
