HYDERABAD: The irrigation officials of Telangana were upset over Andhra Pradesh’s recent letter to the Centre demanding cancellation of administrative approval to Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS). The officials on Wednesday studied the contents of the letter and prepared a counter argument to be presented to the Central government.
AP’s irrigation secretary wrote a letter last week to the Centre demanding cancellation of the administrative approval to Kaleshwaram project. The AP official contended that the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) did not approve the KLIS. No tribunal allocated water to KLIS, the letter said and termed Kaleshwaram as an “illegal project”. AP wrote as many as eight letters to the Centre against Kaleswharam.
However, the Telangana officials are ready to give a counter to AP. The officials recalled that Kaleshwaram was not a new project, as it was approved long back as Pranahita-Chevella project.
The source of the project was changed to Medigadda and the alignment was the same, the officials said while dismissing AP’s argument.
Telangana State would soon write a letter to this effect to the Centre.
State Dam Safety Organisation
The Central government will play State Dam Safety Organisation role for the safety of common dams in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana, Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam projects. The Union Water Resources Ministry issued a press release on the proposed “Dam Safety Bill, 2018” on Wednesday. According to the release, in certain cases, such as dams of one State falling under the territory of another State, the National Authority shall also perform the role of State Dam Safety Organisation thereby eliminating potential causes for inter-state conflicts.
Besides, the release stated that “India has had 36 dam failures in the past - 11 in Rajasthan, 10 in Madhya Pradesh, 5 in Gujarat, 4 in Maharashtra, 2 in Andhra Pradesh and one each in Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Tamil Nadu and Odisha”.
The provisions of the Dam Safety Bill 2018 will empower the dam safety institutional set-ups in both Centre and States and will also help in standardising and improving dam safety practices across the country, the release said.
The Bill provides for constitution of a state committee on dam safety by the State government, which will ensure proper surveillance, inspection, operation and maintenance of all specified dams in that State and ensure their safe functioning.