Telangana Budget: Irrigation sector gets Rs 22,691 crore
Hyderabad: Despite obstacles from the Centre, the State government will continue work for the overall development of the irrigation sector, said Finance Minister T Harish Rao asserted here on Monday. Presenting the budget in the State Assembly, he said the State government allocated Rs.22,691.59 crore for the irrigation department. “The obstacles will not deter our […]
Hyderabad: Despite obstacles from the Centre, the State government will continue work for the overall development of the irrigation sector, said Finance Minister T Harish Rao asserted here on Monday. Presenting the budget in the State Assembly, he said the State government allocated Rs.22,691.59 crore for the irrigation department.
“The obstacles will not deter our Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. One crore acres in Telangana is getting irrigation water,” he said, adding that there is no assistance from the Centre for irrigation projects of the State and not a single project was given national project status. In the recent union Budget, the Centre has provided national project status to Ken Betwa project in Bundelkhand and in Karnataka, it is in favour of giving a similar status to Upper Bhadra project. However, no such status was being extended to any project in Telangana, he said.
According to Harish Rao, there is no response from the Centre in referring the issue of determining the share of Telangana in Krishna River under Section 3 of Inter State Water Disputes Act. There is no response despite repeated requests. The share of Telangana in Krishna water is not being determined, but all its projects are brought under Krishna River Management Board (KRMB). This clearly showed that the Centre would not do anything which favours the State and on the contrary would actively pursue those issues which are against the interests of the State.
After submitting Detailed Project Reports (DPRs) of projects on Godavari projects to the Central Water Commission (CWC), no clearances are forthcoming. “We appeal through this Assembly to the Centre to grant clearances expeditiously,” he said, adding that it was surprising to see that the linking of Godavari with Cauvery River was being prominently mentioned in the union Budget. This is against the interest of Telangana.
The tagline for separate Telangana agitation was water, funds and jobs. In 2014, water was available only for 20 lakh acres in Telangana. By 2021, it has increased to 85.89 lakh acres. Various projects, canals, tanks, check-dams, major and medium lift irrigation schemes were all brought under a single umbrella by the Chief Minister by reorganizing the Irrigation Department. Since the projects were about to be completed, the focus of the government was now shifting towards their operation and maintenance, he said.
To provide irrigation facilities to Palamuru-Rangareddy districts, the government has taken up Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme with an outlay of Rs.35,200 crores. More than 70 per cent of the works are completed. To ensure availability of funds, the project is linked to Kaleshwaram Corporation. So far, an amount of Rs.18,500 crore has already been spent.
Works relating to Devadula, Sitarama, Seethamma Sagar, Chanaka Kornata projects are going on at brisk pace. Further, the government was in the process of calling for tenders and entrust works for the following projects – Wardha barrage, Kupti, Chennuru, Nalgonda and Gattu lift irrigation schemes of Gadwal district, and Vikarabad-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme.
Sammakka Saarakka barrage is ready for inauguration. With this, the erstwhile Warangal district will have abundant supply of irrigation and drinking water through Devadula, he added.
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