Sitamma Sagar: Telangana to seek green nod

Telangana government also sought permission for Sitamma Sagar barrage and Pump House from the Central Electricity Authority, Irrigation officials said

Hyderabad: The State government is taking measures to get Environmental Clearance (EC) and other necessary permissions for the Sitamma Sagar Multi-Purpose Project (SSMPP), which is part of the Sitarama Lift Irrigation Project, from the competent authorities soon.

Irrigation officials said a fresh Detailed Project Report (DPR) of the project sent by the State government to the Central Water Commission (CWC) and union Ministry of Environment & Forest would be accepted in all probability and all the required permissions, including Environmental Clearance, would be granted soon. The State had also sought permission for Sitamma Sagar barrage and Pump House from the Central Electricity Authority, they said.

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According to Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to the Chief Minister on Irrigation, Sridhar Rao Deshpande, the State already has the EC for the project and the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) had granted fresh Terms of Reference (ToR) for it in June 2022.

However, since the State government wanted to construct a 320 MW power plant, it requested a change in the existing EC and the EAC suggested a detailed assessment of possible environmental and social concerns, following which the State government prepared a fresh DPR and sent it to the CWC and the Environment Ministry, he said.

“The State government has prepared a comprehensive DPR and sent it to the CWC and the Environment Ministry. We are expecting the Centre to grant EC and other permissions by soon,” he said. The project has all the necessary permissions, including Hydro Clearances and only barrage component needed EC and a few other clearances for which the State government has already taken steps, Deshpande said.

Commenting on the order of the Southern Zone Bench of National Green Tribunal (NGT), he said the tribunal had not put a stay on the project, but only asked to get EC. “We are working on it. Once we get the EC, we will start the work,” he said.

The Sitamma Sagar Multi-Purpose Project aims towards construction of barrage and development of a hydro-electric project to generate 320 MW (8 Nos. x 40 MW) power and supply irrigation water to the command area about 2.73 lakh hectare under the Sitarama Lift Irrigation Project on need basis. The total cost estimated is Rs.3,481.90 crore.

The project requires 3121.14 acres of land in 63 villages in Aswapuram, Cherla and Dummugudem mandals. Around 2640.39 acres of land have been acquired so far, of which 2485.18 acres of land have been handed over to the Irrigation Department.