Pranahita-Chevella project at Thammidihatti soon: Uttam

 Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday said Dr B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella project would be taken up soon at Thammidihatti village in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district to supply water to the erstwhile undivided Adilabad district.

“We will take an appropriate decision on the Pranahita-Chevella project soon to protect the interests of people in the district,” he said, after reviewing the status of various projects with irrigation department officials at Jal Soudha.

He asked officials to submit necessary details on the present status of the Pranahita-Chevella project conceived by the Congress government during former chief minister late Y.S. Rajashekar Reddy’s tenure in erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh.

Referring to SLCB tunnel works that were pending for the past few years, he cited non-payment of dues to the contractor by the previous government. He said pending projects, wherein water could be given to more ayacut at less cost, would be given priority and completed on a fast-track basis.

In a digital presentation at the meeting, officials apprised the minister about dues of over Rs 5,000 crore and that loans from various corporations and agencies for major and medium projects amounted to Rs 86,000 crore.

The minister directed officials to prepare for a project-wise review.

On the failure to get clearance from the Central Water Commission (CWC) for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), officials said that as it’s a surplus-based project, the previous government gave the nod for constructing it at a cost of over Rs 55,000 crore.

Construction of three pumps was completed while eight of them were about to be completed, with a trial run of one pump underway. A new ayacut of 12.3 lakh acres would come under Udandapur reservoir, which is part of PRLIS, officials said.