Irrigation Minister asks officials to pursue clearances, speed-up Gouravelli project

HYDERABAD

The Telangana government is giving a renewed push to the Gouravelli irrigation project initiated during the Congress regime in united Andhra Pradesh towards its early completion by resolving outstanding approvals, land acquisition and rehabilitation issues through a time-bound programme, Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

Chairing a meeting to review the progress of the project here on Saturday, the Minister stressed the need to translate the substantial investment made into the project already to extend irrigation benefits to farmers across its intended ayacut of 1.06 lakh acres. Minister for Transport and BC Welfare Ponnam Prabhakar and senior officials of the Revenue and Irrigation Departments participated in the meeting.

Instructing the officials to prepare a clear work schedule, to process eligible compensation claims promptly and bring financial, administrative and legal bottlenecks to the notice of the higher ups, Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy stated that Gouravelli in Akkannapet mandal of Siddipet district forms part of the Indiramma Flood Flow Canal project based on Sriramsagar Project.

Giving a brief history of the project, he said its original construction agreement dates to May 2008. The reservoir’s capacity was subsequently enhanced from 1.410 tmc ft to 8.230 tmc ft with a supplementary agreement for the expanded works signed in December 2017. But it did not materialise in the absence of approvals and clearances.

Stating that the reservoir works were nearly 98% complete, the Minister said environmental clearance, remaining land acquisition, rehabilitation obligations and canal works would be addressed before the project could deliver its intended irrigation benefits. He suggested that completion of the reservoir must be accompanied by a functioning canal and distributary network capable of carrying water to agricultural fields.

Total expenditure made on the project so far was ₹1,343.59 crore comprising ₹886.76 crore on works, including price escalation and ₹456.83 crore on land acquisition and rehabilitation. The project completion would need another ₹114.39 crore. The Minister told revenue and irrigation officials to put the land acquisition on fast track.

The Minister instructed that the revised reservoir estimate of ₹1,457.979 crore be forwarded to the Chief Secretary for placement before the next Cabinet meeting. He stated that expansion of the reservoir without prior clearance in the BRS regime had led to proceedings before the National Green Tribunal, which restrained further construction, pending fresh environmental clearance.

Irrigation officials informed that the environmental-impact assessment, environmental-management plan, public-hearing reports and three-season baseline data were uploaded to the PARIVESH (MoEF) portal. The Minister told the officials to complete the documentation for the appraisal meeting scheduled for October 8 and to coordinate with the Advocate General and project counsel to place the latest legal developments and updated project records before the NGT ahead of its October 16 hearing.