Water for UBP within KWDT-I allocations: Centre

Hyderabad: Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu on Thursday said water allocation for the Upper Bhadra Project (UBP) was well within the allocations made by Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal (KWDT-I) to Karnataka, based on which the project has been cleared from inter-State aspect.

In view of the acceptance by Advisory Committee on Irrigation, Flood Control and Multipurpose Project (Advisory Committee) and subsequent investment clearance by the Central government, the Karnataka government may implement the project as per its priorities and resources.

The Minister said this while responding to a question from TRS MPs Kavitha Malothu, Dr G Ranjith Reddy, Venkatesh Netha Borlakunta and Pasunoori Dayakar on clearance given to UBP. According to Minister, in March and July 2021, the Telangana government made a request to Central Water Commission to defer the clearance given by the Ministry to UBP, till finalisation of Award of KWDT-II. The CWC forwarded a detailed reply to the State government.

Two months ago when Andhra Pradesh government urged not to go ahead with approval of the project till KWDT-II decision is published, the CWC forwarded a detailed reply to it last month. The Minister said the UBP has been accepted by Advisory Committee, in its 147th meeting held in December 2020. Thereafter, in April 2021, the project had been accorded investment clearance by the Investment Clearance Committee of the Ministry for estimated cost of Rs 16,125.48 crore at 2018-19 price level.

Subsequent to investment clearance, inclusion of a project under national project scheme of the Ministry requires recommendation from its High Powered Steering Committee (HPSC) and also necessary approvals by the Central government. Since acceptance by Advisory Committee is a pre-requisite for consideration by HPSC, clearance from inter-State aspect is thus mandatory for a project to be considered as a national project. Further, a Detailed Project Report (DPR) of a project submitted to CWC for appraisal was required to be shared with the other co-basin States. The views of co-basin States on the inter-State aspects, if any, are dealt with appropriately by CWC while examining the project from inter-State aspect, he added.

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