HYDERABAD: Worried over the land acquisition problems and also the stringent provisions of the Land Acquisition Act 2013, the state government found an alternative route to take up irrigation projects, albeit on an experimental basis. The alternative route is Pressurised Pipe Irrigation System.
Under the piped irrigation system, the state government need not go in for land acquisition and can also save considerable cost on relief and rehabilitation (R&R).
The irrigation department took up two pilot projects of piped irrigation system in Adilabad district — one at Mathadi Vagu project and another at Jagannathapuram.
Under Mathadi Vadu, the left main canal was completed with the regular open channels. However, the right main canal was not completed. The right main canal works are now taken up under piped irrigation system. The cost of the project is `7.3 crore which is proposed to irrigate 1,200 acres.
“The works are going on for this project,” irrigation chief engineer Bhagavanth Rao told Express. Now, the second pilot project has been proposed at Jagannathpur and the proposal was submitted to the Central government recently.
In Jagannathpur piped irrigation project, the officials proposed to irrigate 15,000 acres with an estimated cost of `202 crore. In Jagannathpur, two mandals Tansi and Talamadugu will be covered under piped irrigation system.
“We require 45 acres of land for acquisition. The land cost is around `10 to `12 lakh there. We will lay pipelines in farmers’ lands at a depth of 4 feet,” Bhagavant Rao said.
The Central Water Commission (CWC) too proposed pressurised pipe irrigation system considering the scarcity of water. However, in the case of Telangana, it is not the scarcity of the water but the land acquisition problem which promoted the government to tap the Central funds for piped irrigation system.
Apart from 28 other projects during a recent of meeting of Command Area Development and Water Management (CADWAM), the officials also proposed Jagannathpur piped irrigation project.
Total 39 projects
The Centre sanctioned 11 irrigation projects of the state under PMKSY with an estimated cost of `920 crore. During a recent meeting, the state proposed 28 more projects including Nagarjuna Sagar, SRSP-1, Alisagar, Gutpha, Dindi, Ghanpur anicut, Pocharam, Satnala, Swarana, NTR Sgar, RDS, Kadem project, Musi, Gundlavagu, Kotipalli Vagu, Asifnagar, Nallga Vagu and others.