Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has asked officials to prioritize the completion of irrigation projects. He emphasized the need to focus on projects that can provide irrigation to the maximum possible area within the next six months.
The Chief Minister said that projects nearing completion, which can serve a substantial command area, should be prioritized over others.
He advised the Irrigation Department to speed up work on projects that are set to be completed within the next two years and urged them to prepare an action plan to meet deadlines and achieve targets within stipulated timeframes.
The Chief Minister said that spending on long-pending projects, which have dragged on for five or six years would not yield benefits. Instead, completing projects that are already 75% or more complete could bring irrigation to a larger area by the next Kharif season.
The Chief Minister also asked the Finance Department to ensure the availability of funds for priority projects in both the Godavari and Krishna basins.
He added that bills for these projects should be paid through a green channel to ensure quicker progress, especially those that would irrigate more land in a shorter time.
Revanth urged officials to resolve issues promptly to overcome obstacles and address problems impeding project completion. He also highlighted challenges such as payment disputes with the power sector and asked the Irrigation Department to organize a joint meeting with TRANSCO, GENCO and DISCOMs to resolve billing issues. Coordination with the Revenue Department was also stressed to speed up land acquisition.
The Chief Minister directed that all three departments – Irrigation, Power and Revenue – should hold joint meetings to formulate action plans based on their decisions. He emphasized the importance of engineers being present on the ground rather than in offices and ordered IAS officers and engineers to conduct field visits to speed up incomplete works.
Revanth acknowledged the critical role played by engineers in the irrigation sector during Telangana’s statehood movement. He called upon the engineers to remember that their job is not an ordinary one, but one intertwined with the sentiments of four crore people in Telangana.
On Thursday, the Chief Minister handed over appointment letters to 687 newly recruited Assistant Executive Engineers (AEEs) at the Jal Soudha.
Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy, Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar, Tummala Nageswara Rao, Finance Secretary Ramakrishna Rao, Irrigation Secretary Rahul Bojja and officials Prashant Patil and ENC Anil Kumar were present at the event.
The Chief Minister also held a review meeting at the Jal Soudha on pending irrigation projects. Revanth emphasized the need for timely land acquisition and said that ongoing projects should not face delays due to such issues.
He stressed that officials must negotiate with landowners in a humane manner involving public representatives in discussions. During the meeting, Irrigation officials presented a detailed PowerPoint presentation on projects like the Mini Kaleshwaram, Modikuntavagu, Lower Penganga, Chanakha-Korata, J. Chokka Rao Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme, Sripada Yellampalli Project, Koilsagar Lift, Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy Lift, Jawahar Nettempadu Lift, Rajiv Bheema Lift, Alimineti Madhava Reddy SLBC, Dindi Lift, Sriram Sagar Phase 2, Sadarmat Barrage, Neelvai, and Palemvagu projects.
They provided a project-wise progress update and outlined the estimated timeframes and required funds for completion. The Chief Minister then addressed district SEs and CEs through video conference to ensure coordinated efforts across the state
