HYDERABAD: The State government is all set to join Dam Rehabilitation and Improvement Project (DRIP) of the Central Water Commission, which is funded by World Bank. As many as 29 projects of the State, including Nagarjuna Sagar, Sriram Sagar, Nizam Sagar and Jurala, will be included in the project.
Three Central Water Commission (CWC) officials — CE, Dam Safety Organisation, CWC and Project Director, Drip Phase-2 and Phase-3 Gulshan Raj, Director Samir Kumar Shukla and Deputy Director AP Kandial on Tuesday held a meeting at Jala Soudha with Special Chief Secretary Irrigation Rajat Kumar, OSD to CM (Irrigation) Sridhar Rao Deshpande, Central Designs Organisation Chief Engineer T Srinivas and other officials to take the consent of the State for the implementation of DRIP in Telangana.
The main objectives of the DRIP are to improve the safety and performance of dams, to strengthen the dam safety institutional setup and also management of the projects.“The State government already sent proposals for inclusion of 29 projects in the Phase-1 of DRIP, when T Harish Rao was Irrigation Minister. However, at that time the Central government did not approve it. Now, these projects will be included in the Phase-2 and Phase-3 programme as the Central Cabinet recently accorded permission,” an official told Express.
Of the total cost of the project, the Central government will provide 70 per cent funds as grant and the remaining 30 per cent will be borne by the State government. The cost of the project in the State will be around `665 crore, sources said. The 10-year project will commence later this year. Already 10 States have joined the DRIP. Once Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao gives his nod, Telangana too would join the project, sources said. As many as 736 irrigation projects in the country, including 31 from Andhra Pradesh were proposed to be included in the DRIP.