PNS|Hyderabad
The back-to-back clearances for the proposals of poll-bound Telangana have raised eyebrows.
In an election year, states tend to get a lot of gifts and clearances like in the case of Gujarat which was given the Gift City or Karnataka which was given Rs 5,300 crore for its Upper Bhadra Project in Budget 2024. Hopes were high that Prime Minister Narendra Modi would make new announcements when he visited Warangal last month. Although he didn’t make any new announcements, in just two days the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) got environmental clearance and the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) approved the transfer of defence lands.
Political analysts say that the BJP which bags the credit for such approvals has stayed calm and the BRS has been taking the credit for it.
On Thursday, an expert committee of the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests recommended environmental clearance for the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project to provide irrigation facilities to 12.3 lakh acres in erstwhile Mahbubnagar, Ranga Reddy and Nalgonda districts besides supplying water for drinking and industrial needs.The State Government was asked to submit a bank guarantee of Rs 153.7 crore towards environmental damage costs for works executed without securing environmental clearance.
On Wednesday, the Secunderabad Cantonment Board (SCB) approved the transfer of defence lands for elevated corridors/skyways under the Strategic Road Development Programme (SRDP).
The Ministry of Defence (MoD), mandated a deposit of Rs 383.44 crore into the Secunderabad Cantonment Board’s account as compensation for land of equal value.
