HYDERABAD: Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has said that if necessary valuable lands in Hyderabad would be auctioned and the amount would be spent on the construction of Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS). He further said that the first phase of the PRLIS would be completed in ten months and water would be given for the next Kharif crop.
The Chief Minister on Thursday conducted an aerial survey of Palamuru project and inspected the progress of works. Speaking to reporters later at Edula in Wanaparthy district, the Chief Minister said that once PRLIS is completed around 15 to 20 lakh acres would get irrigation in the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district.
Finding fault with the Congress leaders for demanding that the water required for PRLIS should be drawn from Jurala, Rao said that there is no water in Jurala. “Only six tmcft water is available at Jurala. We are requesting Karnataka to provide drinking water in summer,’’ he explained.Rao said that the State government after consultation with experts has decided to draw water from Srisailam instead of Jurala to PRLIS.
‘Jurala will get water from Palamuru’
The Chief Minister said that Palamuru water would be diverted to Jurala in future. “Under Jurala project, the ayacut is 1.2 lakh acres. Bhima ayacut has 2.03 lakh acres, Nettempadu 2 lakh acres, Koilsagar 52,000 acres and the newly proposed Gattu reservoir 3,000 acres of ayacut. Mission Bhagiratha requires 3.87 tmcft from Jurala. In all, water required under Jurala project is 71.1 tmcft. But, Jurala will have only six tmcft of usable water,” the Chief Minister explained.
He said Jurala would be supplemented with Palamuru water. “The Palamuru-Rangareddy canal which is supposed to provide water to Narayanpet Assembly segment will be used for this purpose. This canal will be widened further and water will be dropped in Sangam Banda through Bhima. From there, it will be diverted to Jurala through a small stream,” Rao explained.“Godavari water reached Mid-Manair through Kaleshwaram. Similarly, Palamuru district too should get plenty of water. That is my aim,” the chief minister said. He added that he would visit Palamuru once in every 15 days.