Hyderabad: Chief Minister Revanth Reddy on Sunday reviewed the Palamuru Rangareddy project and other Krishna basin issues, raising questions on design changes, water allocation and pending approvals.
He said the previous BRS government had sought permission in February 2023 to use 7.15 TMC for drinking water under the Palamuru Rangareddy project. Later, after coming to power, the present government approached the Centre seeking allocation of 90 TMC.
According to the Chief Minister, requesting permission to utilise 45 TMC for drinking and irrigation, pending the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal verdict, could not be termed wrong. He also asked where the project capacity had been reduced in the process.
Meanwhile, officials explained the project status and approvals through a PowerPoint presentation.
CM questions shift from Jurala to Srisailam
During the review, the Chief Minister sought a clear explanation on why the Palamuru Rangareddy project shifted its water source from Jurala reservoir to Srisailam.
He asked officials to submit details of the original Jurala-based estimates, ayacut and proposed water diversion. Further, he sought comparative figures on the revised cost after the design change.
Additionally, the Chief Minister asked how much the project cost increased after execution began. He also sought updates on current progress and funds required for completion.
Seeking accountability, he asked what happened to the first DPR and what the government-appointed committee reported before approving the change. He pointed out that lifting up to 3 TMC per day from Jurala, located within the state, would not have triggered interstate disputes.
Accordingly, he directed engineers to prepare all facts, committee reports and technical justifications in advance.
Water allocation efforts and tribunal claims
Explaining the background, Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy briefed the Chief Minister on efforts made to secure approvals for the Palamuru Rangareddy project and representations submitted to the Centre.
The Chief Minister said the government made strong efforts after assuming office to secure approval for 90 TMC. As part of this, ministers met Union Ministers and submitted repeated representations.
Therefore, he asked officials to compile and place all correspondence with the Centre in the public domain.
He also directed officials to prepare details of arguments placed before tribunals. These include Bachawat and Brijesh Kumar tribunal allocations totalling 1,005 TMC.
In addition, he asked them to add Telangana’s claim of 45 TMC from waters diverted through the Polavaram project, bringing the total claim to 1,050 TMC.
The meeting was attended by Irrigation Principal Secretary Rahul Bojja, Chief Secretary to the CM Seshadri, Secretary Manikraj, Engineers-in-Chief Anjad Hussain and Ramesh Kumar, Palamuru Rangareddy Chief Engineer Vijay Bhaskar Reddy, chief engineers of various projects and interstate water resources engineers.
