CWC meet to resolve Pranahita project

HYDERABAD: The Central Water Commission (CWC) will hold a meeting with Telangana irrigation officials next week to resolve the issues that are coming in the way of declaring Pranahita-Chevella as a national project.

According to tentative dates, the CWC will conduct a meeting in Delhi either on December 17 or 18. Irrigation advisor to the government R Vidyasagar Rao and others will attend the meeting.

This was a follow-up action from the Centre after the recent meeting of Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao with Union Water Resources Minister Uma Bharati.

Uma Bharati assured the Chief Minister that she would convene a meeting with the officials of Telangana on conferring national project status on Pranahita-Chevella.

When Rao and officials called on Uma Bharati, she asked what were the problems for Pranahita-Chevella with neighbouring Andhra Pradesh government.

Telangana officials explained her that though Pranahita-Chevella was an inter-State project, there were no issues with AP government. There were issues with Maharashtra government. But, the officials reminded Uma Bharati that Chief Ministers of both AP and Maharashtra signed a pact for the construction of the Pranahita-Chevella.

When Uma Bharati asked about the massive power generation component, Telangana irrigation officials explained her that the power generation would be included in the project cost and the operation and maintenance (O&M) cost would remain unchanged for 15 years after the execution of the project.

Official sources in Telangana told that the environmental clearance was required for the Pranahita-Chevella, for which MoTA recently conducted a meeting.

The public hearings were conducted by two district collectors in Maharashtra recently for providing relief and rehabilitation (R&R) package for Maharashtra lands, which submerge under Pranahita-Chevella.

These things will be explained by the TS officials in the CWC meeting and seek early permissions for the project. 'The national project status will be conferred only after Pranahita-Chevella gets all clearances.

We require some clearances. The departments concerned are seeking clarifications and it will take some more time for the Central government to confer national project status,' an official in TS said.

Once, the national project status was accorded, 90 per cent of the cost of the project would be borne by the Centre and there would be no burden on the State.