Palamuru-Rangareddy Project: Telangana makes fresh presentation before EAC

The presentation given by the project authority has focused duly on the cost of environmental damage calculated as desired by the EAC adhering to the standard operating guidelines

Hyderabad: Addressing the green hurdles that came in the way of the implementation of the irrigation component under the Palamuru-Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme Stage–II, the State has made a fresh presentation, most likely to be the final one, before the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Ministry of Environment and Forests on Monday.

The presentation given by the project authority has focused duly on the cost of environmental damage calculated as desired by the EAC adhering to the standard operating guidelines. It was the key aspect pointed out to by the EAC while deferring the environmental clearance to the project in the previous sittings.

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The project authorities had reiterated their commitment for implementation of the remediation plans and the community resource augmentation plans. It had already offered to provide a bank guarantee of Rs 142.49 crore for this purpose. The cost of the implementation of the remediation plan was revised further hiking it by Rs 11 crore, according to sources.

Works on the irrigation component of the project were stalled as per the orders of the National Green Tribunal (NGT) issued on December 22, 2022. The State was permitted to go ahead with only the drinking water component of the project intended for utilisation of 7.15 TMC ft of water with the intervention of the Supreme Court.

The implementation of the irrigation components of the project could be possible only after obtaining the environmental clearance. The project authorities are vigorously pursuing the clearance for the Stage II of the project which is under the scrutiny in different wings of the Central Water Commission.

The drinking water component that has already received the necessary clearances is likely to be commissioned anytime in the first week of August. Ten pumps of the project in the first two stages are ready for the dry run. The pump house at Narlapur was inspected by a team of officials of the Irrigation department ahead of the dry run which is to be scheduled for the first week of August. The scheme will support drinking water supply to over 1220 villages in six districts in the region.