Hyderabad: The Regional Empowered Committee of the Union ministry of environment and forests, Chennai, accorded Stage-I clearance for Sitarama irrigation project on the Godavari river. The committee approved diversion of 1,531 hectares of forest land to the project.
The Sitarama project is first to prepare estimations as per the Centre’s revised orders based on a cost-benefit analysis.
Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao expressed happiness over the development and asked officials to secure Stage-II clearances quickly.
The project, which needs 1,798 hectares, is aimed to irrigate 6.74 lakh acres including creation of irrigation potential of 3.28 lakh acres in Khammam and Bhadradri-Kothagudem districts.
The forest department has identified 1,640 hectares of alternative land and obtained permission from the revenue department. The government will plant 2.6 lakh saplings in forest lands, 12.89 lakh in degraded forest lands, as also along 94-km of canal banks to compensate for diversion of forest lands.
