Green nod for PRLI is a shot in the arm for Telangana government, enabling it to cater to drought-prone areas
The Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation (PRLI) project has got a new lease of life after the advent of its full environmental clearance in August. The project is a wellspring to south Telangana just as the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) is to North Telangana. KLIP is almost completed and has started giving its promised benefits. It is poised to play its preeminent role in the irrigation and agriculture productivity of Telangana.
PRLI with other related schemes like Jurala, Kalwakrthy, Nettempahad, Bhima and Koilsagar, forming a southern water grid, is expected to play the same role in south Telangana. Though KLIP is larger, PRLI is as important because of its more drought-prone command, difficult terrain and endless disputes with Andhra on the Krishna water.
The project was plagued by the litigations of Andhra State, the pandemic and the intransigence of the central government. The new anti-federal river water GO of the Centre and the NGT stay on the environmental clearance had delayed the project by more than two years. A partial clearance for the drinking water part of the project was available earlier. Since the NGT has provided the full environmental clearance now, the Telangana government has resumed the work on the irrigation component of the project. The State government is concentrating on completing the project at the earliest.
The Project
PRLIS aims to provide irrigation to drought-prone upland areas of Mahabubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Narayanpet, Ranga Reddy and Vikarabad districts for an ayacut of 12.3 lakh acres. Its ancillary benefits are drinking water to 1,226 villages in 70 mandals en route to GHMC, Hyderabad, and water for industrial use in districts. The project involves lifting 90 tmc of water in 60 days during the flood season from the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir located at Yellur (V), Kollapur (M) in Mahabubnagar district to KP Laxmidevipally (V), Kondurg (M) in Ranga Reddy district which is the highest elevation point in the project command, with 5-stage lifting and then utilising water by gravity.
The six reservoirs of the project have a combined storage capacity of 63.34 tmc. In addition to the balancing reservoirs on line, there are several offline reservoirs like Sivannagudem, Kistarampalli and Gottimukkala with varying storage capacities ranging from 0.5 tmc to 7 tmc and many MI tanks which will be filled by the project. The water use is 80 tmc for irrigation, 8 tmc for drinking water and 2 tmc for industrial use. In addition, there is a massive replenishment of groundwater, helping recoup the badly ailing borewell irrigation in these drought-prone districts.
Water Share
The all-important green nod for the project is a shot in the arm for the Telangana government, which is galvanising its effort to complete the works. It comes in handy to the government’s plans to start impounding water in at least 3 to 4 balancing reservoirs of the project over the next two to three months. It is known that the works on different components of the project have been completed in the range of 45% to 91% so far.
The division of Krishna water in the united Andhra Pradesh to its three regions was felt to have been made arbitrarily without regard for the catchment and cultivable areas, and the population, which was supposed to be the basic criterion for such division. As if the injustice in the distribution of dependable water as estimated by the Tribunal was not enough, the AP government went into over-utilisation of the so-called surplus and floodwaters in the Andhra region with its Cabinet decisions and government orders.
PRLIS aims to provide irrigation to drought-prone upland areas of Mahabubnagar, Nagarkurnool, Nalgonda, Narayanpet, Rangareddy and Vikarabad districts
Legitimate Right
The Srisailam reservoir has become a backyard water trough for Rayalaseema, making manipulations in the drawdown levels in the hydel project in the name of drinking water to Chennai, a Telugu Ganga project, Srisailam Right Bank Canal and all kinds of ‘srujala sravnthis’ to take Krishna water to irrigate the old Tungabhadra ayacut and also all the way to Penna basin areas, which are outside the Krishna basin.Even before the water share of Telangana was used, Andhra and Rayalaseema utilised beyond their share, building reservoirs exceeding 200 tmc capacity to draw floodwaters from Srisailam via the ever-widening Pothireddypadu Regulator (PPR).
In the united State, it was an intra-State issue. The Telangana region did not have the right or opportunity to present its case in the Tribunal or to the Centre. But even after Telangana came into existence, the manipulation has continued. The PPR, which was originally designed for 11,000 cusecs, was increased to 44,000 cusecs before the merger. It has now been increased to 88,000 cusecs discharge capacity, to take water from the lowest level of the Srisailam reservoir via its new controversial LI projects.
In addition to this, the water availability tangle of the project raised by the Central Water Commission and the ambiguous terms of reference to the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal in the matter are other sources of irritation to PRLI. The State government weathering all these impediments is fighting for its legitimate right in the share of Krishna water both in KRMB and the BK Tribunal, and also with the Centr’s irrigation ministry.
The matter is of utmost importance for south Telangana. It is such a serious matter that it is imminent for all political parties in Telangana to work together to foil the motivated efforts of the Andhra government and the tacit support of the central government to it. And thwart their attempt to deprive Telangana of its legitimate share of Krishna water. Hope that with the determined efforts of the State government and the dedicated work put in by the irrigation and electricity departments and the legitimacy of Telangana’s claim on the project, PRLI will be completed at the earliest and provide full benefits as envisaged.