Hyderabad: The Devadula lift irrigation project, once completed, will be able to provide irrigation for 300 days a year and will be particularly beneficial for the former undivided Warangal district, irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
The irrigation minister also announced that the government would be appointing 1,800 ‘Laskars’ on an outsourcing basis for maintenance of irrigation canals and associated structures as part of the government efforts to improve irrigation efficiency of projects. “The Cabinet, headed by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, along with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, took a unanimous decision to strengthen the department and the appointment of 700 assistant engineers was also a part of these efforts,” Uttam said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy was speaking to reporters after an inspection of the J. Chokka Rao Devadula lift irrigation scheme project site in Mulugu district and was accompanied by ministers Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy and Danasari Anasuya ‘Seethakka.’ Several senior irrigation department officials also took part in the onsite review of the project and its progress by the irrigation minister.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the project will start functioning from March 2026 and will use 60 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) of water from Godavari river. On the challenges related to land acquisition for various projects, he said the government would soon appoint an IAS officer full-time for this purpose.
Referring to the Sitaramasagar project, he said the efforts of Congress government to approvals for using 67 tmc ft of water from the Central Water Commission had reached the final stage and that talks were on with the Chhattisgarh government for a no-objection-certificate.
The irrigation minister said the previous BRS government had left the irrigation department in tatters with its irresponsible decisions and the desire for commissions by leaders in that government. They had saddled the state with a `1.8 lakh-crore debt burden, and did not pay past bills worth `14,000 crore.
“They made decisions sitting in a farmhouse and KCR and his family destroyed the irrigation sector. They used the department to loot money,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Once ready, the Devadula project will be inaugurated by Sonia Gandhi, the Congress party leader who had laid the foundation stone for the project.
