Land acquisition remains major bottleneck as 2,659 acres is yet to be acquired

HYDERABAD

Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy has asked the authorities to end delays in the execution of major irrigation projects, and reminded both the irrigation engineers and contractors about the December 31, 2027, deadline for completion of the ₹18,400-crore J. Chokka Rao Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme (JCRDLIS).

At a review meeting here on Saturday, he instructed the officials to ensure completion of the project by December-end, 2027. Aimed at providing irrigation support to 5.57 lakh acres across 10 districts, the project was a top priority for the State Government, he reiterated.

The Minister undertook an exhaustive package-wise review covering physical progress, financial status, land acquisition, court cases, pending distributary systems, contractor delays, ayacut creation and funding requirements.

Describing the Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme as a prestigious project, he said the scheme was designed to lift 38.16 tmc ft of water from the Godavari river to irrigate drought-prone and upland regions. The Government was fully committed to providing irrigation facilities to 5.57 lakh acres across Hanumakonda, Warangal, Jangaon, Yadadri-Bhongir, Suryapet, Siddipet, Mahabubabad, Mulugu, Jayashankar-Bhupalpally and Karimnagar districts.

Taken up during 2004-05 with an estimated cost of ₹6,016 crore, the project cost had now escalated to nearly ₹18,400 crore due to increases in costs and inflation over the years. The government had so far spent ₹14,422 crore on the project and another ₹3,978 crore would be required to complete the remaining works.

The Minister said the Devadula project was being implemented in three phases through 16 packages. Phase-I was designed to irrigate 1.23 lakh acres, Phase-II 1.93 lakh acres and Phase-III 2.39 lakh acres. The infrastructure network includes 20 pump houses, 642 km of pipelines, 57.16 km of tunnels, 20 reservoirs, 306 km of main canals and 2,185 km of distributary network.

Mr. Reddy noted that the project would include Asia’s longest 49-km D-shaped irrigation tunnel and said arrangements were being made to meet the project’s 495.55 MW power requirement. He also stated that the Sammakka barrage integration would ensure near year-round water availability for Devadula.