With 2023-24 being an election year for Telangana as polls to the Assembly are due before December 2023, the State government has laid impetus on irrigation sector one more time by making sizeable budgetary support of ₹22,692 crore for 2022-23 in addition to the borrowings lined up through the special purpose vehicles (SPVs).
The allocation to irrigation sector for the next fiscal is higher by nearly ₹5,760 crore as the allocation as per the revised estimates for the current fiscal (2021-22) is only ₹16,919 crore. In terms of percentage, the allocation is up by over 34% against the revised estimates for the current fiscal.
In the budge speech, Minister for Finance T. Harish Rao announced that the government was in the process of calling for tenders for entrustment of works of Wardha Barrage, Kupti, Chennuru, Nalgonda, Gattu and Vikarabad-Rangareddy lift irrigation schemes.
According to an official source, Wardha Barrage is being proposed in place of a barrage at Tummidihetti, from where the original Pranahitha-Chevella project was supposed to take-off. However, it has been in the cold storage even after signing an agreement with Maharashtra. “The change of location of barrage to irrigate parts of combined Adilabad district has been considered keeping in mind the arduous process in getting clearances for Tummidihetti as a wildlife sanctuary falls in the vicinity,” the source said.
Similarly, Vikarabad-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation scheme is being proposed to cover the areas intended to be irrigated under the original Pranahitha-Chevella project and left uncovered in the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme.
The increase in budgetary support also encompasses needs of Sangameshwara and Basaveshwara lift irrigation schemes, for which foundation stone was laid recently, envisaged to irrigate 3.9 lakh acres in erstwhile Medak district. Along with the two LI schemes, the government is planning to expedite the remaining packages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project related to Nirmal, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Yadadri-Bhuvanagiri, Medak and Sangareddy districts.
The Minister stated that works pertaining to Devadula, Sitarama, Seethamma Sagar and Chanakha-Korata projects were going on at a brisk pace and Sammakka-Saarakka (Thupakulagudem) Barrage was ready for inauguration to ensure abundant supply of irrigation and drinking water to combined Warangal district. “Irrigation facility has been increased to 85.89 lakh acres by 2021 against to just 20 lakh acres in 2014 by completing Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bheema, Koil Sagar, Yellampally, Mid Manair and Devadula projects on a fast track,” he explained.
