– Completion of Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bheema and Koilsagar projects by March 2026
– Deadline of 8 months to fill 50 TMCs in Narlapur, Yedula, Vattem and Karivena reservoirs
– Palamuru-Rangareddy Project to be completed by Dec 2027
PNS|Nagarkurnool/ Wanaparthy
Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday announced definite timelines for completing all major irrigation projects in the erstwhile Mahbubnagar district, promising to undo years of neglect and deliver long-pending water schemes for farmers. He said the massive Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme would be completed by December 2027.
Accompanied by Excise Minister Jupally Krishna Rao, Planning Board Vice Chairman G. Chinna Reddy and MP Mallu Ravi, he undertook an extensive review of key project sites in Nagarkurnool and Wanaparthy districts. He inspected pump houses, reservoirs and canals critical to the scheme.
At Narlapur in Kollapur mandal, Uttam visited the Stage-I pumping station and the reservoir, which holds 6.4 TMCs of water. He reviewed Package-3, which he termed a critical link ignored by the BRS government.
The Chief Engineer and the agency were given six months to finish the work.
He then proceeded to Yedula reservoir in Revally mandal and inspected the Stage-II pumping station. Featuring India’s largest underground cavern, this stage has 10 pumps with a discharge capacity of 23,000 cusecs feeding the 6.5 TMC reservoir.
Later, the team inspected Vattem reservoir and Stage-III pumping station in Bijinepally mandal. Vattem also has 10 pumps of similar capacity. Uttam announced that works required to fill 50 TMC across Narlapur, Yedula, Vattem and Karivena reservoirs would be completed within eight months. He also assured that Udandapur would be ready before March 2026.
He made it clear that the Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bheema and Koilsagar projects must be completed by March 2026. “Two non-functional motors at Lift-I of Kalwakurthy will be operational in two to three months,” he said.
Uttam asked irrigation officials to solve all pending land acquisition and vendor-related issues to avoid delays.
Blaming the BRS government for neglect, he said that Telangana’s interests were compromised during water allocation.
“Even though the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal allocated 811 TMCs to undivided Andhra Pradesh, KCR and his irrigation minister asked only for 299 TMCs for Telangana, giving AP the advantage. This injustice continued till 2023,” he said.
He confirmed that the Congress government has filed a review petition seeking 511 TMCs, or at least 60 to 70 per cent of Krishna waters.
Uttam also announced an ex-gratia of Rs 25 lakh for the families of the six workers trapped inside the SLBC tunnel. He said the rescue is risky as per the warnings of the Geological Survey of India, but a committee has been formed to oversee rescue attempts.
He assured that the Congress government would give top priority to completing irrigation works in Palamuru. “We will deliver what the people were denied for years,” he stated.
Meetings were also held with district officials on paddy procurement and ration card issues, reflecting the government’s parallel focus on farmers’ immediate needs.
