Revanth May Visit Pranahita-Chevella Site at Thummidihatti on May 7

ADILABAD: With the government initiating steps to take up construction of the proposed Pranahita-Chevella barrage on the Pranahita river at Thummidihatti in Komaram Bheem Asifabad district, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is likely to visit the project site in Kautala mandal on May 7, according to a tentative schedule.

Arrangements are being made by the district administration and irrigation officials for the visit of the Chief Minister and irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy.

The government is planning to construct a barrage with a proposed height of 150 metres and initiate discussions with the Maharashtra government, with the involvement of Union minister G. Kishan Reddy, to resolve issues arising out of probable submergence of areas in the neighbouring state as a result of water storage at the project including by offering to pay compensation to affected landowners.

MLC Dande Vittal, district collector K. Haritha, superintendent of police P. Nitika Pant and sub-collector Shraddha Shukla inspected the site on Friday following directions from senior irrigation officials.

Vittal said the Chief Minister would review the project on site and hold a meeting with officials. He added that the state would seek Maharashtra’s approval for increasing the barrage height to 150 metres, compared to the earlier agreement of 148 metres during the BRS government tenure.

He said the increase in height could enable storage of an additional 2 tmc ft of water, benefiting farmers in the erstwhile Adilabad district. Officials noted that about 71 km of canals had already been excavated and nearly Rs 11,000 crore spent under the earlier Pranahita-Chevella project.