Glimmer of hope for water-starved Palamuru

With the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation project promising to end the drought, the districts of Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar, Narayanpet, Nalgonda, Vikarabad and Ranga Reddy are all set to erupt in celebration

Hyderabad: The Palamuru region, which went through its worst days without any succor for decades in the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, is finally seeing a glimmer of hope.

This southern pocket of Telangana, caught in the pincer grips of drought, will soon see an abundance of water, with the first phase of the long awaited drinking water component of the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation project nearing completion. Being implemented against all odds, two of the 10 pumps of the project are ready for dry run. They will be commissioned by all means in July, according to officials.

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Over 1,220 water-starved villages in six districts will get supplies from the mega scheme to end their water woes. It will be a historic moment in the history of Palamuru region, which has been known for decades of drought and despair, triggering large scale exodus of farmers and farm workers to distant lands. Now, with the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation project promising to end the drought, the districts of Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar, Narayanpet, Nalgonda, Vikarabad and Ranga Reddy are all set to erupt in celebration.

The two pumps installed in the first phase of the project at Narlapur will become operational by the end of next month yielding 3000 cusecs each. In fact, the first phase will have as many as eight pumps of the same capacity. One more pump is being set up as a standby to meet emergencies for serving drinking water needs.

The Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme was envisaged to provide 7.15 TMC of water exclusively for catering to drinking water needs of en route villages in the six districts. Once the project was completed, it would be lifting 90 TMC of flood water from Krishna. The drawls to be made from the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir would be spanning over 60 days.

The National Green Tribunal (NGT), which has stalled works on the irrigation component of multi-stage project, however permitted the execution of drinking water component on February 17, 2017 stating that it ‘did not find it in the interest of justice, to stop the work of the project with regard to the supply of drinking water’.
MA Hameed Khan, Chief Engineer, spearheading the implementation of the project, said no legal issues were involved in the implementation of the drinking water component of the scheme. As desired by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, who wanted the water needs of the Palamuru region to be met at any cost, top priority was accorded to the project.

Issues that mattered for the environmental clearance were being addressed along with the inter-state problems that were presently before the KWDT II for resolution. The Ministry of Environment and Forests was provided with the additional information sought for reconsideration. Palamuru being the most backward region of the State, water supply was given a focused approach by the State government, he said.