HYDERABAD: In a big relief to the Telangana government, the Union ministry of Jal Shakti on Tuesday approved three new irrigation projects in Bhupalpally, Adilabad and Nizamabad districts.
According to officials of the state irrigation department, the Union ministry’s Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) approved Mukteshwar (Chinna Kaleshwaram) lift irrigation scheme in Bhupalpally, Chanaka Korata barrage in Adilabad, and Chautupally Hanumantha Reddy lift irrigation scheme in Nizamabad districts.
Although the state had been seeking approvals for these projects for long, the requests were rejected earlier last year. The approvals came after the state submitted detailed project reports (DPRs) to the Central Water Corporation (CWC) in September 2021 and after a thorough examination by the respective directorates, officials said.
The Mukteswar–Chinna Kaleshwaram project will cost Rs 545.15 crore and is a lift irrigation project with a gravity canal network system on the Godavari River, using 4.50 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) of water. Around 4.20 tmc ft will be used for irrigation and agriculture, while the rest will be used for drinking purposes. The project’s command area covers 18,211 hectares (45,000 acres) and 63 villages will benefit from the project, the officials said.
The Chanaka Korata barrage on the Penganga is expected to cost Rs 452.5 crore, out of which Rs 409.44 crore will be spent in Telangana, and Rs 43.06 crore in Maharashtra. The total water utilisation will be 1.5 tmc ft, of which Telangana will have a share of 1.2 tmc ft and Maharashtra, 0.3 tmc ft . Twenty-three villages, 14 in Telangana and nine in Maharashtra, will benefit from the project. The total command area will be 6,680 hectares, of which 5,566 hectares will be in Telangana and 1,214 hectares in Maharashtra.
Officials said that the Chautupally Hanumantha Reddy lift irrigation scheme, in the sub-basin of Godavari, will be built at a cost of Rs 48.20 crore, and will use 0.8 TMCft of water for irrigating 3,359 hectares (8,297 acres).
