Uttam Kumar Reddy declares summer desiltation as an urgent State-wide priority

The Telangana government has declared summer tank desiltation an urgent priority amid falling water levels in major tanks. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy directed officials to immediately begin restoration works, form tank committees and speed up pending proposals across the State

Hyderabad: After neglecting tank restoration works and losing precious time in executing them during the current season, the Congress government has now declared summer desiltation an urgent State-wide priority.

With water levels steadily depleting in major tanks, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy issued stern, time-bound directions to officials, emphasising that tank restoration cannot wait any longer. At a meeting with officials on Saturday, the Minister ordered that works should begin immediately across all tanks, from village-level tanks to larger systems, without waiting for new guidelines.

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He made it clear that the formation of tank committees through the district administration would be the immediate priority. “Committees must be formed without any delay,” he directed. Each tank or cluster of local tanks would have a government-nominated committee, with farmers forming the majority along with local officials and other stakeholders.

He wanted nominations to be finalised quickly on the basis of recommendations from the departments concerned, with clear roles and rules defined through practical guidelines. “Existing desiltation guidelines are already available. Follow them and start work,” the Minister said, adding that roughly two months of the summer window remain.

He also questioned officials over the delay in processing the proposals, though instructions were given in this regard about 1.5 months ago. The stabilisation of tanks would include detailed issue identification and mapping of bund problems, sluice issues and tank-specific challenges, using existing departmental inventories as the base. He stressed the physical restoration of tanks, starting with desiltation, followed by bund strengthening, sluice repairs and catchment development.

He also emphasised upstream interventions to reduce fresh silt inflow into the tanks and insisted on long-term measures for stabilisation through afforestation to prevent soil erosion. “Over-excavation could remove the critical soil layers. There should be strict monitoring so that desiltation does not become a source for unauthorised mining,” Uttam Kumar said.

The Minister welcomed farmer-driven desiltation, wherein silt is lifted for fields by farmers themselves. He directed that the new committees be made functional and empowered.

Catchment protection, Full Tank Level (FTL) fixation and anti-encroachment drives were to run parallel to restoration works, involving the Irrigation, Revenue and Agriculture departments. He wanted steps to be taken for the desiltation of the Jurala project and Musi project by processing the proposals without any further delay.