HYDERABAD: Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao said Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) would change the face of the State in all aspects. The surface water being supplied to the farmers would improve the quality of life and will be the lifeline for Telangana. In an interaction with the TNIE team on Wednesday, Harish Rao said once water was supplied, paddy production would improve, new rice millers would come up and employment would be generated.
The fishermen and the shepherds would get more production due to the availability of water. KLIS would benefit all the erstwhile districts of the state, except Mahbubnagar. On cost escalation of the projects, Harish Rao said that earlier, the cost escalations of various projects was 20 per cent to 150 per cent. “The cost escalation in any project is natural due to the increase in the prices of steel, cement and diesel.
Recently, the Supreme Court imposed a penalty of 12,500 crore on steel manufacturing companies. The companies passed the burden onto the consumers. Earlier, the steel price was `28,000 per tonne. Now it has increased to `45,000 per tonne,” Harish Rao explained. The minister said that KLIS has received all the statutory clearances. “We are expecting three more optional clearances — simulator, technical advisory committee (TAC) and benefit cost ratio — this week,” the irrigation minister added.