No national status to Kaleshwaram: Centre

Hyderabad: In a major disappointment to the Telangana, the Union government has made it clear that the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project was not eligible for inclusion under the national project (NP) status.

This was stated by Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Bishweswar Tudu in the Lok Sabha while replying to a question raised by Telangana Congress MP N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Thursday.

The minister clarified that the project would not get national project status in the absence of investment clearance. Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao pleaded several times with Prime Minister Narendra Modi to accord national project status to Kaleshwaram.

The project must be appraised by the Central Water Commission (CWC) and then accepted by the Advisory Commission to include it for funding under the national project, Tudu said once the project met the norms laid down for the national project status, it is required to be considered by the High Powered Steering Committee (HPSC). After the HPSC recommends , the Union government would approve the national project status based on availability of funds.

The Union minister stated that the State governments in Telangana and AP have not handed over the jurisdiction of the Krishna basin projects as specified in Schedule –II of notification to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).

However, the Water Resources and Energy departments in October 2021 had issued orders for handling over certain components of the Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar projects mentioned in Schedule-II of the notification under their control to KRMB simultaneously with handing over of components under the control of Telangana.

The Union minister also pointed out that the two Telugu States governments have not handed over jurisdiction of the Godavari basin projects as specified in Schedule-II to the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB).

"Since water is a State subject, it is for the State governments to take up planning, design and implementation of irrigation projects in their respective jurisdiction", he said. The role of the Centre is to play a catalytic role, provide technical support and financial assistance in terms with the existing schemes under implementation. He asserted that in the case of major and medium inter-State irrigation projects, the State government should maintain details regarding total expenditure incurred by different agencies, as well as status of works for the ongoing projects.