NGT stays State Govt’s ₹32,000 crore lift irrigation work

  

Hyderabad in a setback to the Telangana Govt, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday ordered a stay on the construction of the prestigious Palamuru Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme (PRLIS) being built on Krishna river on the grounds that it has no environmental clearance.

An interim order to this effect was issued by the southern bench of the NGT at Chennai, after a prolonged hearing on the pleas filed by the Govt of Andhra Pradesh and a couple of farmers.

Senior lawyer for Andhra Pradesh Govt in the tribunal D Madhuri Reddy told the news agency that the tribunal had asked the Telangana Govt to stop all the works on Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation project until it obtained environmental clearance from the ministry of environment and forests (MOEF), Government of India.

Madhuri Reddy said that “The tribunal has also rejected the Telangana government’s argument that AP Govt has no locus standi in raising objections over the project five years after its commencement".

The PRLIS is aimed at drawing 90 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of Krishna river from the backwaters of Srisailam reservoir for 60 days during the flood season to irrigate 1.23 million acres in Nagarkurnool, Rangareddy, Narayanpet, Mahbubnagar, Vikarabad and Nalgonda districts, besides providing drinking water to en route villages and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, besides industrial use. The estimated cost of the project is ₹32,500 crore.

In July this year, a couple of farmers - Kosigi Venkataiah from Mahabubnagar district and D Chandramouli Reddy from Kadapa district- filed petitions before the NGT, Chennai bench. The Mahbubnagar farmer opposed the project stating that the authorities were indulging in indiscriminate extraction of soil from lakes to build a huge bund for Udandapur reservoir. The Kadapa farmer contended that the PRLIS was being constructed in the name of drinking water scheme without obtaining environmental clearance from the Centre.

Later, the Andhra Pradesh Govt, too, impleaded in the case, stating that there is no need to excavate huge canals, tunnels and construct 6 reservoirs, if the PRLIS is meant for drinking water supply purposes.

Subsequently, the NGT constituted a joint committee consisting of a senior officer from the Union environment and forest ministry, a senior scientist from CPCB, Chennai, district collector, Mahabubnagar, director, mines and geology, and a senior scientist from National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to inspect the project works and submit a report by August 27.

However, the committee failed to take up the inspection and submit the report as directed by the NGT due to the non-cooperation of Telangana government. Later, the tribunal appointed Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) chairman as nodal officer to get the inspection panel report.

The joint committee inspected project works in September and submitted a report to the NGT in Oct first week stating that Telangana took up irrigation works in PRLIS, instead of permitted drinking water component works. Following this, the NGT ordered a stay on Palarmaru-Rangareddy project works.

The AP Govt’s lawyer said, “The tribunal said the objections raised by the Andhra Pradesh government were valid and the responses given by the Telangana government were not satisfactory,” the AP government’s counsel said.

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(With input from news agency language)

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