No national project status for Telangana’s Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme

Citing ongoing disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the use of Krishna river water, Central Water Resources Department says it is not feasible to consider project's techno-economic report at this time. Consequently, proposals sent back to Telangana government

Hyderabad: The Central government has once again turned down the proposal for granting national project status to the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme on Friday.

Citing ongoing disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh over the use of Krishna river water, which are being addressed by the Supreme Court and the Krishna Waters Disputes Tribunal-II, the Central Water Resources Department said it is not feasible to consider the project’s techno-economic report at this time. Consequently, the proposals were sent back to the State government.

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This was revealed during the Lok Sabha session, wherein Bhongir MP Chama Kiran Kumar Reddy raised questions about the project’s status. The Minister of State for Water Resources, Raj Bhushan Choudhary, provided a written response outlining these details. The State government had submitted the proposals to the Central Water Commission in September 2022, requesting national status for the project.

The first phase of the ambitious Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project was inaugurated on September 16, 2023 by the then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. Designed to irrigate 12.3 lakh acres of arid land, the Rs 35,000-crore project is expected to transform the drought-hit regions of Mahbubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Narayanpet and Nalgonda districts.

The scheme involves lifting water from the Krishna river through a series of five pump stations to higher altitudes, ensuring water reaches areas that have long suffered due to inadequate rainfall and depleting groundwater levels. While the inauguration of the first phase is a landmark achievement, the project is far from completion, as works on the subsequent phases came to a standstill.