Hyderabad: The Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme envisages lifting water in five stages through pumping from the foreshore of Srisailam Reservoir near Yellur village of Kollapur Mandal in Nagarkurnool district to the proposed KP Laxmidevipally Reservoir (+670.00 M) near Shadnagar.

The project was envisaged to create irrigation potential in upland areas of Nagarkurnool, Mahabubnagar, Vikarabad, Narayanapet, Rangareddy, and Nalgonda districts, for an ayacut of 10 lakh acres with a proposal for enhancing the ayacut to 12.03 lakh acres and drinking water needs en-route villages, GHMC, and industrial use.

As per the government of Telangana irrigation and cad department Hyderabad there was a draft environmental impact assessment report issued and the environmental clearance of the Palamuru Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme has been resolved.

And with key issues pertaining to Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) resolved, the Irrigation Department has set a deadline to launch at least two pumps each at Narlapur, Yedula, and Vattem reservoirs by June this year.

With senior officials stepping in to sort out issues related to land acquisition, the department is confident of meeting the June deadline particularly since the State government has sanctioned Rs 660 crore for the completion of PRLIS, a key project that will cater to the needs of south Telangana.

Officials told a leading news agency that the total land required for the project was 27,163 acres of which 24,064 acres had already been acquired leaving just 3,099 acres to be acquired. The process for acquiring 50 acres for the pump house at Narlapur, a key component of the project, and another 250 acres for the tunnel at Kothapeta was already on, and the acquisition of the remaining land would be expedited, officials said.

Officials also said they were taking the assistance of the Revenue Department in completing the process. A series of meetings were conducted with officials from Irrigation, Revenue, and other Departments concerned to sort out the issues to acquire the land to pave way for early completion of PRLIS.

Barring Udandapur and Narlapur reservoirs, work at Karivena and Vattem was going on at a brisk pace. With Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao firm on completing the project soon, the Irrigation Department was leaving no stone unturned in executing the works after sorting out all the problems, officials said.

Senior officials from the Irrigation Department conducted a meeting and entrusted responsibilities to departments concerned for the smooth and fast progress of construction works recently. The officials also fixed a time-frame for the completion of the construction of the four pump houses by June.

The Relief and Rehabilitation (R&R) package for the project oustees was also discussed at the meeting. A team comprising senior officials is planning to visit Bhopal soon to discuss the supply of heavy-duty equipment required for the project. “We are trying our best to start at least four pumps by June,” PRLIS Chief Engineer V Ramesh told a leading news agency.