Uttam says Palamuru-Rangareddy project will be operational within 30 months

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Telangana government would allocate Rs 5,000 crore by June 2 for land acquisition linked to pending irrigation projects. He also set timelines for completing several projects in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district

Hyderabad: Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy stated that the Congress government would allocate Rs 5,000 crore by June 2 towards completion of land acquisition for different pending irrigation projects in the State.

Interestingly, these assurances are in contrast to Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s admission that the State government was facing severe financial constraints. The Irrigation Minister claimed that the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project would be fully operational in the next 30 months. He also vowed to complete the Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bhima and Koilsagar projects by March 2027.

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The Minister held a review meeting with officials here on Sunday and announced a special drive to fast-track works on the key irrigation projects intended to benefit the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district. He stated that the government was firm on stepping up the pace of the works in progress with specific allocations of Rs 909 crore for Kalwakurthy, Rs 252 crore for Nettempadu, Rs 200 crore for Bhima and Rs 185 crore for Koilsagar over the next one year. Facilitating the implementation of these works on a mission mode, the government is fast-tracking land acquisition as well as rehabilitation and resettlement activity (R&R), he said.

For the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project (PRLIP), he said the BRS government had secured administrative approval for Rs 35,200 crore and spent about Rs 27,000 crore by the time of its exit. Costs have since escalated, with the revised estimates putting it at around Rs 55,000 crore, excluding the cost of the construction of the network of distributaries, he said.

The project is now expected to cost up to Rs 80,000 crore. The Congress government has spent Rs 7,161 crore on the PRLIP since 2023 to date. It has spent Rs 6,718 crore on the implementation of the project works, Rs 284.71 crore on land acquisition, Rs 63.65 crore on rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R), and Rs 94 crore on other project-related heads, he added.