HYDERABAD: Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday called for a unified national framework under which every water-conservation work would form part of a single water-security plan.
Addressing the Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari -- the first-ever Departmental Summit organised by the Ministry of Jal Shakti in New Delhi, Uttam said that rainwater conservation must become a people’s movement, with suitable recharge facilities for households, conservation structures for agricultural fields and dependable community water bodies for villages. Each intervention, however, must be scientifically designed as per local geology, aquifers, runoff patterns and actual water requirements, he said.
The minister pointed out that water-conservation works were presently funded through several programmes, including MGNREGS, PMKSY, Finance Commission grants, CAMPA, watershed initiatives, state schemes, local bodies and CSR. Without effective convergence, this could lead to fragmented planning, unsuitable site selection, duplication, repeated reporting and poor maintenance, he said.
Uttam proposed geo-tagging and assigning a unique identity to every asset, linking it to its funding source and placing it under a clearly named custodian. Performance, he said, should be judged by storage restored, groundwater recharge achieved, improvement in water levels, functionality of assets and year-round water availability-not merely by the number of structures built.
Highlighting Telangana’s achievements, he said the state was recognised as the best-performing state under Jal Sanchay Jan Bhagidari in 2025, while 13 Telangana districts figured among top 50 districts in water conservation.
Telangana has 44,360 water bodies and tanks, of which works have been taken up in 28,739 and restoration completed in 22,428.
Its 74 major and medium irrigation projects have created irrigation potential for 74.51 lakh acres, while another 53.18 lakh acres remain to be realised, he said.