Revanth seeks project clearances

■ Seek clearances for Tummidihatti construction

■ Environmental approvals sought for PRLIS, Sitarama projects

■ Telangana urges speedy installation of telemetry systems to monitor Krishna water use

metro india news  I hyderabad : Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday urged Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil to persuade the Maharashtra government and secure early clearances for construction of the Tummidihatti barrage. The Chief Minister informed the Union Minister that Telangana had already submitted the information sought by Maharashtra regarding the project.

Revanth Reddy and State Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy met Patil in Delhi on Tuesday evening and discussed several issues concerning Telangana’s projects in the Krishna and Godavari basins.

The Chief Minister urged Patil to facilitate an early agreement between Telangana and Maharashtra to construct the Tummidihatti barrage at an FRL of +152 metres. He said construction at that level would enable water to be conveyed to Ellampalli through gravity. This, he explained, would reduce the electricity required for water transportation as well as the associated expenditure.

Revanth Reddy also requested the Union Minister to grant environmental clearances for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme (DLIS), Sitarama Sagar Multipurpose Project (SSMP) and Gauravelli reservoirs.

The Chief Minister urged that environmental clearances for the projects be issued at the earliest, following the Centre’s recent announcement that guidelines would be issued in accordance with the Supreme Court judgment on environmental clearances. He said delays in obtaining approvals were increasing the construction costs of the projects.

Revanth Reddy also sought speedy clearance from the Central Water Commission (CWC) for the Sammakka Sagar project. He said the Detailed Project Report (DPR) had already been submitted to the CWC and requested approvals relating to irrigation planning and inter-State issues. The Chief Minister informed Patil that Telangana was holding discussions with the Chhattisgarh government to obtain a no-objection certificate for the project.

He also urged the Centre to expedite the installation of telemetry devices being undertaken under the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to monitor the utilisation of Krishna river water.

Revanth Reddy pointed out that the Telangana government had already deposited Rs 4.15 crore required for installation of the first-phase telemetry devices. He requested that the first phase be completed at the earliest and that equipment for the second and third phases also be installed quickly.

State Minister G. Vivek Venkataswamy, MP Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, MLA Gaddam Vinod, State Government Adviser (Irrigation) Adityanath Das and Chief Minister’s Secretary Manickraj, among others, attended the meeting.