SIDDIPET: Expressing confidence in the state government obtaining the required environmental clearances for the Gouravelli reservoir and overcoming all legal hurdles, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday said that the project will be completed at the earliest.
Uttam, along with Transport Minister Ponnam Prabhakar, held a review meeting with officials concerned at the Secretariat in Hyderabad on Monday. “The land acquisition process would be completed as per timelines. The project will be completed at the earliest. All measures are being initiated in that direction,” the minister said.
The Gouravelli project is one of the reservoirs being constructed under the Indiramma Flood Flow Canal (IFFC) project, with an initial proposed storage capacity of 1.41 tmcft in Siddipet district and with an aim to create an ayacut of 1.06 lakh acres. Subsequently, the reservoir’s proposed storage capacity has been enhanced to 8.23 tmcft.
Asserting that the land acquisition process would be put on fast track, Uttam assured fair compensation and speedy payments to the farmers parting with land for the implementation of the project. “The government is firm on completing the land acquisition process by releasing the required funds well before June 2,” he said and directed the Karimnagar, Jangaon and Siddipet collectors to pay focused attention to the land acquisition issues, giving priority to the project.
Referring to legal challenges, the irrigation minister directed the advocate general to be ready with the required strategies as the Supreme Court case will be coming up for hearing in two days. The minister expressed the hope that the state would be able to overcome all the legal hurdles. The project has been pending with works stalled for many years due to multiple reasons, he added.
Stating that the state government is committed to completing the project, Uttam said funds would be released without further delay. “Minister Prabhakar has been continuously pressuring the irrigation department to complete the project.
There will be no excuses as far as the completion of the land acquisition process is concerned. The June 2 deadline set by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for completing land acquisition across critical irrigation projects, including Devadula and Gouravelli, should be met at any cost,” he said.
“In areas with growing urbanisation or where land values are skyrocketing, landowners are pressing for higher compensation. Conscious and fair policy decisions on compensation rates must be taken at the award stage,” he added.