Telangana seeks central clearances and Maharashtra support for irrigation projects

Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has asked the Union Jal Shakti Ministry to persuade Maharashtra to support the proposed Tummidihatti Barrage at a full reservoir level of 152 metres. Reddy made the request during a meeting with Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R.

Patil in New Delhi on Tuesday. He also sought early statutory clearances for the project. The Chief Minister said the proposed level would allow water to flow by gravity to the Yellampally reservoir, reducing the electricity required for lifting it.

He told the minister that information requested by Maharashtra had already been submitted. Reddy also asked the Centre to issue environmental clearances for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and the Sita Rama Lift Irrigation Project. He said delays had made expenditure on the schemes unproductive and were increasing project costs.

He raised the pending clearances for the Gouravelli project and the Sammakka Sagar project. Telangana is pursuing a no-objection certificate for Sammakka Sagar from the Chhattisgarh government, according to the source material. The Chief Minister further asked the ministry to instruct the Krishna River Management Board to install telemetry equipment at all required points of water withdrawal.

He said the equipment was needed to accurately account for the use of Krishna water. Telangana had released ₹4.15 crore to the board for the first phase of telemetry installation, Reddy said. Equipment was still required at points identified for the second and third phases.

Reddy was accompanied by Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Irrigation Adviser Aditya Nath Das and other officials. The meeting covered projects in both the Krishna and Godavari basins that Telangana says remain pending before central authorities.