Telangana govt sets deadline for Singur canal works

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy directed officials to complete pending canal lining works at the Singur project by June 26 and ordered urgent dam safety inspections. He also announced Rs 5,000 crore for land acquisition for irrigation projects.

Hyderabad: Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy directed officials to complete the pending canal lining works of the Singur project by June 26. He also ordered immediate safety interventions at the dam, citing concerns flagged by national authorities. He said he would soon visit the project site to review the progress.

Chairing a high-level review meeting at the Secretariat on Wednesday, the Minister said the safety of the Singur dam was of the highest priority, given its role in supplying drinking water to Hyderabad and providing irrigation to surrounding areas. Officials were instructed to undertake sonar tests and underwater inspections to assess any structural damage without fully draining the reservoir and to submit a report within three days.

---

Officials stated that assessments since mid-2025 had pointed to cracks in the embankment, slope erosion, revetment damage and issues in the plunge pool area. The reservoir, with a gross capacity of 29.91 TMCft, supplies around 7 TMCft of water to Hyderabad annually. Accordingly, the authorities were asked to stop high-risk operations and initiate safety measures, completing repairs within a single working season to avoid disruption to crops.

With around 9 km of the 13-km canal lining completed, Uttam Kumar Reddy directed that the remaining 4 km be finished by June 26. He also asked the department to prepare Detailed Project Reports for the proposed Peddareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme in Andole constituency and submit them to the government, with plans to lay the foundation by Ugadi next month.

Separately, the Minister announced that Rs 5,000 crore would be released for land acquisition for irrigation projects across the State and set June 2 as the deadline to expedite pending acquisition processes. Field-level reviews were also ordered to resolve technical issues at Palem Vagu.