Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy is holding a comprehensive review meeting on irrigation projects in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar district at his office in Hyderabad on Sunday. | Photo credit: RAMAKRISHNA G
Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy announced special efforts to expedite work on key irrigation projects to benefit the erstwhile Mahbubnagar and other districts of South Telangana by extending the required financial support while pledging to fully operationalize the Palamuru-Rangareddy irrigation scheme in the next 30 months.
He also pledged to complete the Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bhima and Koilsagar projects by March 2027 while reviewing the status of work on the projects.
Mr. Reddy said the government is firm on accelerating the pace of ongoing works with specific allocations of ₹909 crore for Kalwakurthy, ₹252 crore for Nettempada, ₹200 crore for Bhima and ₹185 crore for Koilsagar during the next year.
Quoting Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, he said that land acquisition has been given top priority with a decision to complete it under key projects across the state by releasing ₹5,000 crore by June 2 this year.
He noted that these projects have been neglected since the BRS came to power in 2014. He criticized changes such as the shifting of the draw point for the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme from Jurala to Srisailam and similar issues with the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, for which the key source was shifted from Tummidihatti to Medigaddy.
He accused the BRS of indulging in false propaganda on irrigation projects. For the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), he noted that the BRS had secured administrative approval for ₹35,200 crore but spent only about ₹27,000 crore. In September 2023, only one pump of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Scheme was operational for less than an hour.
The cost has since escalated, with revised estimates at around ₹55,000 crore and now expected to cost up to ₹80,000 crore.
The Congress government has spent ₹7,161 crore on the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme from 7 December 2023 till date. It has spent ₹6,718 crore on execution of project works, ₹284.71 crore on land acquisition, ₹63.65 crore on rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) and ₹94 crore on other project-related heads.
Published – March 8, 2026 9:39 PM IST
