Telangana: PRLIS made a reality overcoming multiple challenges
This report delves into the struggles faced by the region, the perseverance of its people, and the visionary leadership of K Chandrasekhar Rao that led to this monumental achievement.
Hyderabad: It was an era of broken promises and broken hearts. All that was promised, hoped for and needed desperately was only water. Despite knowing fully well that even a trickle of it would mean much for Palamuru, Seemandhra rulers had let the region mercilessly down. The water share the region was entitled to was subjected to loot, more so under the last two major players – N Chandrababu Naidu and YS Rajasekhar Reddy.
Naidu came to power in 1995 promising nothing short of an overnight transformation of Palamuru. People pinned their hopes on him as he went to the extent of adopting the district assuring them of focused attention for its development. But nothing changed, except for the public perception about him.
All that he had borrowed from the World Bank for giving water to the drought prone regions did not reach the water starved Palamuru. The Jurala Project failed to get due importance. Though it was designed to have a gross storage of 11.84 TMC, it could seldom retain more than 8 tmc because of the unattended siltation. Survey for the proposed Kalwakurthy project got the official nod in 1997, but the administrative sanction had to wait for two years.
The foundation stone for the project was laid in 2003, a year ahead of his exit. The modified design of the project resulted in reducing its yield to only 25 TMC. Several other lifts became non operational because of neglect. Farmers were burdened with the power bills of the lifts. Farmers’ suicides that owed to their deprival were projected as death caused due to family feuds and ill health.
The regime of YS Rajasekhar Reddy, that followed witnessed even worse. He was instrumental for the widening of the Pothyreddypadu Head Regulator in a phased manner, which is viewed as the bane of Telangana. Its water drawl capacity was enhanced much to dismay of the Palamuru farmers from 11,000 cusecs to 44,000 cusecs and further to 70,000 cusecs. The canal was widened further to facilitate drawls up to 88,000 cusecs in needed in future. Now the AP government has taken up lining of the canal system to facilitate more drawl.
The drawls from the Srisailam back waters for SRBC (19 tmc), Telugu Ganga (44 tmc), HLC (10tmc) went on increasing year after year. The loot that continued at the cost of Palamuru caused a great deal of heartburn in Mahabubnagar. YSR listed 10 projects of Telangana under the Jalayagnam programme. But none of them were completed. Funds were given for the completion of AP projects only.
The discrimination shown by the rulers of Seemandhra against Telangana in the erstwhile State was thoroughly exposed by K Chandrashekhar Rao who spearheaded the Statehood movement. He fought the injustice meted out to the southern part of the region in particular and the entire Telangana as a whole. As Chief Minister of the new State, he tasked himself with the responsibility of redesigning the Palamuru Ranga Reddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. The project proposal was not supported with assured water source initially in the undivided State.
The availability of over 90 tmc of assured water was projected for the PRLIS to facilitate its clearance by the CWC and other agencies. The State could overcome many hurdles under his guidance and leadership to get the clearances from the central agencies.
The realisation of the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme on September 16, thus will be a great dream coming true for the people of Telangana.
