Telangana to create additional ayacut of five lakh acres in 2024: Uttam

Irrigation Department had identified projects that can give fruitful results within six months to one year, said Uttam Kumar Reddy,

Hyderabad: The State government will work on creating a new ayacut of five lakh acres within one year by scaling up the spending on projects that would yield desired results, according to Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy.

Talking to media persons after a review with irrigation officials at Jala Soudha on Saturday, he said the Irrigation Department had identified projects that can give fruitful results within six months to one year.

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“We have discussed the costs involved in the completion of the projects identified for completion. Our target is to create new ayacut of 4.5 lakh acreas to 5 lakh acres by December 2024,” he said, adding that the government was forced to prioritise spending after a review of the expenditure of the previous government.

Uttam Kumar Reddy stated that a vigilance investigation was ordered into the sinking of Medigadda barrage pillars and appropriate action would be taken against those responsible. Quoting Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, he said the government had written to the Chief Justice of the Telangana High Court seeking the appointment of a sitting judge for the judicial inquiry into the Kaleshwaram project.

He said that the union Water Resources Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat was met by the Chief Minister and himself during their Delhi visit seeking the status of a national project for the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. He explained that although the union Minister had clarified that there was no specific plan for according national status for the project, he promised to grant funds under various Central government schemes.

Former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had altered the Ambedkar Pranahita Chevella project into the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme but the original project would have created a new ayacut of 16 lakh acres at one fourth the cost of Kaleshwaram, he said.

The Minister also said all silted water ponds and tanks across the State would be cleared during summer.