Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy conducts a comprehensive review meeting on irrigation projects in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district at his office in Hyderabad on Sunday.
| Photo Credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy announced a special drive to fast-track works on the key irrigation projects intended to benefit erstwhile Mahbubnagar and other South Telangana districts by extending the required fund support, while pledging to make the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme fully operational in the next 30 months.
He also vowed to complete the Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bhima and Koilsagar projects by March 2027, while reviewing the status of the works on the projects.
Mr. Reddy stated that the government is firm on stepping up the pace of the works in progress with specific allocations of ₹909 crore for Kalwakurthy, ₹252 crore for Nettempadu, ₹200 crore for Bhima and ₹185 crore for Koilsagar over the next one year.
Quoting Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, he said that the land acquisition was given top priority with a decision to complete it under key projects all over the State by releasing ₹5,000 crore by June 2 this year.
He noted that these projects were subjected to neglect ever since the BRS came to power in 2014 . He criticised changes like shifting the off-take point for the Palamuru- Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme from Jurala to Srisailam and similar issues with Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project, for which the key source was shifted from Tummidihatti to Medigadda.
He accused the BRS of indulging in false propaganda on the irrigation projects. For the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), he noted that the BRS secured administrative approval for ₹35,200 crore but spent only about ₹27,000 crore. Only one pump of the Palamuru- Rangareddy Lift Scheme was put into operation for hardly one hour in September 2023.
Costs have since escalated, with the revised estimates putting it around ₹55,000 crore and now expected to cost up to ₹80,000 crore.
The Congress government had spent ₹7,161 crore on the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme from December 7, 2023, to date. It has spent ₹6,718 crore on the implementation of the project works, ₹284.71 crore on land acquisition, ₹63.65 crore on Rehabilitation and Resettlement (R&R) and ₹94 crore on other project-related heads.
Published – March 08, 2026 09:39 pm IST
