Revanth seeks Centre's intervention to secure Maharashtra clearance for Tummidihatti project
CM urges Jal Shakti Minister to expedite Tummidihatti barrage and environmental approvals
Hyderabad: Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Tuesday urged Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil to prevail upon the Maharashtra government to grant the necessary clearances for construction of the Tummidihatti barrage and expedite environmental approvals for several Telangana irrigation projects.
Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy met Patil in Delhi and discussed issues concerning Telangana’s projects in the Krishna and Godavari basins. The Chief Minister said Telangana had already furnished the information sought by Maharashtra for the Tummidihatti barrage and requested the Centre to facilitate an early agreement between the two states for construction of the barrage with the full reservoir level at 152 metres.
Revanth Reddy said construction of the project at the proposed height would enable water to be taken to the Yellampalli reservoir through gravity, reducing the requirement for power for lifting and consequently lowering the cost of water transportation.
The Chief Minister also sought immediate environmental clearances for the Palamuru-Rangareddy and Dindi lift irrigation scheme, Sitaramasagar multipurpose project (SSMP) and Gouravelli reservoir. Referring to the Centre’s decision to issue guidelines for environmental clearances following a recent Supreme Court judgment, he urged the Union minister to expedite approvals for the projects. Delays in obtaining clearances were increasing the cost of construction, he pointed out.
Revanth Reddy also sought expeditious clearance of pending approvals from the Central Water Commission (CWC) for the Sammakkasagar project. He said Telangana had submitted the detailed project report (DPR) to the CWC and sought clearances relating to irrigation planning and inter-state issues. The Chief Minister said the state government was holding discussions with the Chhattisgarh government to obtain a no-objection certificate for the project.
The Chief Minister urged Patil to expedite installation of telemetry devices being taken up under the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to monitor utilisation of Krishna water. He said Telangana had already deposited ₹4.15 crore required for installation of telemetry devices under the first phase. He requested that the first phase be completed at the earliest and equipment under the second and third phases also be installed expeditiously.
Minister G. Vivek Venkataswamy, MP Gaddam Vamsi Krishna, MLA Gaddam Vinod, state government adviser (Irrigation) Adityanath Das and Chief Minister’s secretary Manicka Raj were among those present at the meeting.
