Hyderabad: Water-sharing disputes between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states are causing hurdles to expansion of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, the dream project of Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
Sources in the state government said the Chief Minister is pursuing the issue both legally as also with the parties concerned so that the construction of all irrigation projects in the state can be expedited and completed as per schedule.
The state has planned to lift 2 TMC of water per day from Godavari river. As the first phase is already complete, the government invited tenders to increase the lifting capacity from 2 TMC to 3 TMC in a day and entered into agreements with 6 contract companies to go-ahead for expansion.
But, due to the objections raised by the AP government on irrigation projects of Telangana, Union Jal Shakthi Ministry asked both the governments to hold back their projects.
In December 2020, Jal Shakthi minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat has asked the Chief Minister to halt construction of seven irrigation projects objected to by AP unless and until a mandatory appraisal was done by the Godavari River Management Board, the Central Water Commission and the Apex Council.
The AP government raised objections on the third TMC component of Kaleshwaram LIS, the Sitarama LIS, GUS Phase-Ill, the Tupakulagudem project, the Telangana Drinking Water Supply Project, the Barrages on Lower Penganga river and the work on the Ramappa lake to Pakhal lake diversion.
According to the officers of the water resources department,
the National Green Tribunal also directed the Telangana government to strictly adhere to the orders of the Union of India in case of Irrigation projects.
Sources in the government said that in order to expedite the construction of these projects, KCR would hold meetings with experts of irrigation and the legal field to chalk out a strategy to resolve the issues.
