KCR is expected to grab eyeballs even as the CWC's meeting would be underway at the same time in Hyderabad.
Published Sep 07, 2023 | 2:08 PM ⚊ Updated Sep 07, 2023 | 2:10 PM
Telangana Chief Minister KCR at Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project site. (File Picture)
In an apparent bid to steal the thunder from the Congress Working Committee (CWC)’s two-day meeting beginning on 16 September in Hyderabad, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao has decided to switch on the motors of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) on the same day.
KCR’s big show at Narlapur intake well in Kollapur mandal in Nagarkunrool district, followed by a major public meeting, are expected to grab eyeballs even as the CWC’s meeting would be underway in Hyderabad.
Apart from Sonia Gandhi, other senior leaders, including Rahul Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge, Priyanka, and others, will be in Hyderabad for two days, on 16 and 17 September.
The Congress timed its public meeting on the evening of the second day of the CWC’s extended meeting, on 17 September, where Sonia Gandhi will unveil the five guarantees to the people of Telangana ahead of the Assembly elections in the state scheduled in December.
The day coincides with the anniversary of the “merger of Hyderabad state” in the Indian Union.
Interestingly, the BJP is celebrating the day, terming it the “Telangana Liberation Day”. Even though the programme is being organised by the Union government it is sure to have political overtones.
Last year, it was Union Minister Amit Shah who delivered a hard-hitting speech at the celebrations at Parade Grounds that it was shameful that the BRS dispensation was not in a position to call it Telangana Liberation Day.
Though the guest list is not yet finalised, sources from the BJP said that Amit Shah or some important leader would attend the celebrations.
If Amit Shah turns up for the fete, it would be like two major events taking place simultaneously for two days on the trot, making the choice of which to watch or participate, difficult for the people.
As far as switching on the PRLIS is concerned, the tone for it was set quite some time ago, though the official date of 16 September was announced by Chief Minister KCR only on the night of Wednesday, 6 September.
The chief minister, after a review with officials, said: “The first phase of PRLIS, which is in place now with the world’s largest pumps, will slake the thirst of the people and that of the parched agricultural lands in South Telangana.”
He further said: “Commissioning the project is a historic event as the PRLIS was neglected in the erstwhile united Andhra Pradesh and has now crossed all obstacles.”
He said switching on the motors was the decades-old dream of the people of South Telangana coming true.
“I appeal to the farmers to celebrate the occasion on 17 September by organising rallies,” he said.
“I want sarpanches and the people from all villages to attend the meeting, marking the commissioning of the project. They should take Krishna water in vessels back to their villages and use it to wash the feet of the deities,” the chief minister said.
Lately, videos have been swarming social media as to how the PRLIS will turn the vast, barren stretches in the Mahbubnagar and Rangareddy districts into a land of milk and honey.
They are capturing the imagination of the people as verdant land in Mahbubnagar was unthinkable since it has remained a perennial drought district for ages.
Its labourers used to migrate to neighbouring states in search of livelihood — so much so they came to be known as Palamuru labour (Palamuru is the alternative name for Mahabubangar).
According to a note by the Union Ministry of Environment, the PRLIS, in its first phase, envisages lifting 90 TMC of flood water in 60 days during the flood season from the foreshore of the Srisailam project on Krishna River at Yellur, in Kollapur mandal in the Mahbubnagar district, through five separate stages, ending at KP Laxmidevipally in Kondurg, near Shadnagar town at the highest elevation.
The PRLIS has been planned to be executed in two phases: Phase-I (Water Supply project) and Phase-II (Irrigation project). Phase-I has been planned with six reservoirs and five lifts to cater to the urgent water needs for basic human needs.
The immediate purpose of the project is to provide water for drinking and industrial purposes to the villages en route, as well as Hyderabad city. The first phase of PRLIS envisages providing drinking water to 1,428 villages in 74 mandals of Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy, and Nalgonda Districts, Hyderabad City, and water for industrial use in these districts.
In the second phase, for which environmental clearance was obtained by the Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) on 11 August this year, it is proposed to use this stored water for irrigation in various districts through a network of canals.
The network will be developed from the reservoirs to create irrigation to upland areas of Mahbubnagar, Rangareddy, and Nalgonda districts for an ayacut of 12.3 lakh acres (4,97,976 Ha).
The state government had, in 2015, accorded administrative approval to the project for ₹35,200 crore.
On the day the EAC of the Union Ministry Environment cleared the project, the chief minister said that it was a delightful moment and that the clearance would help the government speed up the second phase of works to provide irrigation to 12.3 lakh acres of land in Rangareddy and Mahbubnagar districts.
