Telangana: Fate of Palamuru-Rangareddy LIS hangs in balance

The ongoing works have come to a standstill for seven months as the project was put on the backburner by the Congress government.

Hyderabad: The fate of the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme is hanging in balance. After spending over Rs.31,000 crore, the project has hit the road block and its continuity has been threatened due to funding issues besides political and administrative challenges.

Escalation in the cost of the project is going to be yet another impediment. As per the revised estimates, the project is expected cost Rs 58,086 crore for completion. The project was taken up with an administrative approval for Rs 35,200 crore. Nearly 85 per cent of the works on the project were completed during the previous BRS regime spending Rs 31,423 crore. The ongoing works have come to a standstill for seven months as the project was put on the backburner by the Congress government.

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The delays in the implementation of key linkages of the project has resulted in much of the cost escalation. The speedy completion of the project is the need of the hour to avoid further cost overruns in its implementation. But it would call for another Rs.26,663 crore to be spent on priority. But the project itself appears to have lost priority as the current government seeks to focus its attention to projects that would give maximum benefits with minimum spending. The issue queering the minds of even irrigation officials is whether the project would materialise at least in the next five years?

The project is crucial for bailing out the water-starved Palamuru region of the State. It is expected to help extend irrigation for 12.30 lakh acres besides supporting drinking water supply in 1226 villages across six districts. Even the drinking water component of the project, that had overcome legal hurdles, has lost the importance it enjoyed in the previous regime.

The Srisailam Project, its sole source of water, is now full to the brim. PRLIS should have made its drawls from the backwaters of Srisailam by now. But it did not happen as the mega pump that was commissioned last year was left idle. The last link between the pump house and the drinking water component of the project is yet to be completed. Leaving apart the environmental and hydrological issues and approvals that needed persistent follow-up, funding of the project has been a major challenge.

Despite the legal hurdles it has faced from the National Green Tribunal (NGT), the previous government had implemented the project in a vigorous manner. The State was seeking central funding by considering it as a national project. It proved to be near impossible. The Ministry of Jal Shakti had given its commitment to consider partial funding under the Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme.