Palamuru-Ranga Reddy project given forest clearance

The Stage I forest clearance for Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme, covering 500 acres of forest land near Narlapur village of Kollapur mandal in Nagarkurnool district, was conveyed to the State government by the Ministry of Forest and Environment on Thursday.

A release by Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao said the clearance paved way to speed up work on the project which was so far limited only to meet drinking water requirements. Now, work will be taken up for irrigation.

The project envisaged lifting 1.5 tmcft water in 90 flood days from the foreshore of Srisailam to irrigate seven lakh acres in erstwhile Mahbubnagar district, five lakh acres in Ranga Reddy and 30,000 acres in Nalgonda. The State government had redesigned the project in June 2016 and accorded administrative sanction of ₹ 35,200 crore for the works.

Mr. Rao, who inspected works on the project in Nagarkurnool and Wanaparthy districts on Thursday, thanked the Union Forest and Environment Minister Harshvardhan. Mr. Rao released water from Buddharam tank to the Peddamandadi branch canal. He visited the proposed site for a reservoir at Vattem which will be constructed as part of the project.