Telangana scripted history by giving water to tail-end areas: Minister T Harish Rao

​Hyderabad: Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao on Thursday said that the modern technology adopted by his department helped optimum utilisation of available water and provided irrigation facility to even tail end areas of many ayacuts under Krishna and Godavari rivers in the State.   

Speaking at the conference- ‘Irrigation Projects – Progress in four years in Telangana’ here, Harish said through Nagarjunasagar project left bank canal, one TMC ft of water was provided to 11,796 acres, which is considered the highest irrigated ayacut ever in the State. He said the practice of scientific management of water resources has increased the irrigation facility. “Normally, 1 tmcft water will provide irrigation to not more than 8,000 acres. 

The ‘On-and-Off’ technology introduced in the State increased the crop output significantly,” the Minister stated. He further claimed that Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s government provided new irrigation facility to 10 lakh acres in four years while the previous Congress government could provide water to only 5.70 lakh acres in its 10-year rule between 2004 and 2014.    
   
In a scathing attack on Congress for its failure in completing the long-pending irrigation projects in the State, the Minister said that it was for the first time in the last 25 years that the irrigation facility has been provided to tail end areas by completing many pending projects. “In the just-concluded Rabi season, water has been supplied for a record 13.57 lakh acres in the State. 

It never happened in the history of Telangana,” quipped Harish.   Stating that the government has been working towards achieving the best state in irrigation tag to Telangana, Harish said that Mission Kakatiya, under which water bodies were revived, and Kaleshwaram project would bring a revolution in the irrigation sector soon. Chief Secretary SK Joshi, Minister OSD Sridhar Rao Deshpande and others attended the conference.