Telangana pushes to clear hurdles, fast-track Gouravelli project

Hyderabad: With the long-delayed Gouravelli irrigation project back on the govt's priority list, Telangana is pushing to clear legal and environmental hurdles while fast-tracking land acquisition to revive stalled works.Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday expressed hope that environmental clearance for the project would be secured soon and said land acquisition would be completed in a time-bound manner.
The Gouravelli reservoir, part of the Indiramma flood flow canal project in Siddipet district, was originally designed with a storage capacity of 1.41 tmc to irrigate 1.06 lakh acres. The capacity was later enhanced to 8.23 tmc. The minister assured fair compensation and speedy payments to farmers whose land is being acquired and said the process would be put on a fast track. He instructed district collectors of Karimnagar, Jangaon and Siddipet to prioritise acquisition issues and ensure timely progress. Addressing ongoing litigation, he urged the advocate general to prepare legal strategies ahead of a Supreme Court hearing scheduled in two days, expressing confidence that the state would overcome the hurdles. Uttam said that the project has remained stalled for years due to multiple issues and reiterated that June 2 — a deadline set by chief minister Revanth Reddy — for completing land acquisition for key irrigation works, including Gouravelli and Devadula, must be met.