Hyderabad: The Telangana cabinet has sanctioned Rs 4,637 crore as revised estimate for completion of the Srisailam left bank canal, which is estimated to irrigate 3 to 4 lakh acres in Devarakonda and Munugode assembly constituencies. It also discussed granting legal protection to Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRA), to protect the tanks, reservoirs and nalas lying within the core urban region falling under the inner limits of the outer-ring road (ORR).
Making the announcement after the cabinet meeting chaired by chief minister A Revanth Reddy at Dr BR Ambedkar Telangana State Secretariat on Friday evening, irrigation and civil supplies minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said that JP Associates, the agency engaged in constructing the project, has been given a deadline to complete the project by September 2027.
He said that once the tunnel is completed, 4,000 cusecs of water could be drawn from the dead storage of Srisailam project every single day. The project will give with an opportunity to draw 30 tmcft Krishna waters to irrigate the fluoride-affected lands of the Nalgonda region, in addition to providing clean drinking water to 700 villages in the region.
He said that out of 40 km long tunnel, 9.5 km tunnel work was pending, and that works for the Dindi balancing reservoir, 5% of which were pending, will be completed.
“From Srisailam water will flow through gravity without any recurring cost for SLBC tunnel project. It can be completed in 20 months, but due to the difficult terrain the outer-limit for the project’s completion has been set for 30 months,” the irrigation minister said.
Uttam Kumar Reddy also announced that the cabinet has approved Rs 500 bonus per quintal of fine grain variety of paddy from the present Kharif procurement season, for which Rs 2,500 crore has been set aside.
He said that out of 1.43 lakh tonne paddy production estimates for the Kharif season, 80 lakh tonne fine grain paddy and 50 lakh tonne coarse grain paddy was being expected.
Also reiterating that new ration cards will be issued on October 2, he said that from January onwards, fine grain variety rice will be supplied to all households having ration cards starting January 2025.
The cabinet has also discussed granting legal protection to Hyderabad Disaster Response and Assets Monitoring and Protection Agency (HYDRA), to protect the tanks, reservoirs and nalas lying within the core urban region falling under the inner limits of the outer-ring road (ORR).
Announcing the same, revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that the core region covers 27 urban local bodies and 51 gram panchayats, which have been incorporated under the jurisdiction of HYDRA.
He also said that the rules and regulations have been amended to give special powers to HYDRA that were earlier possessed by various departments involved in the protection of the water bodies and other areas. He said that the cabinet has approved to depute 169 officials and 946 outsourced staff from various departments to work in HYDRA.
Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy announced that the cabinet has decided to form a 12-member committee headed by the special chief secretary of the roads and buildings department, for the alignment of the southern part of the regional ring road (RRR).
