In a major boon to the State government’s plans to complete the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) to provide irrigation facility to 12.3 lakh acres in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts besides supply water for drinking and industrial needs, an expert committee of the Ministry of Environment and Forests has recommended Environmental Clearance to the project.
The expert panel has, however, asked the project proponent (State Government) to submit a bank guarantee of ₹153.7 crore towards environmental damage costs against works executed without securing the environmental clearance. It has also directed the State government to pay a penal amount of ₹106 crore to the State Pollution Control Board.
The amount for environmental damage costs would be utilised for remediation, natural resources augmentation and community resources augmentation plans in a time-bound manner in three years. The project execution authorities have also been refrained from causing further damage to environment.
On the other hand, the recommendation for the all important green nod to the project also comes in handy to the government plans to start impounding water in at least 3 to 4 balancing reservoirs of the project over the next couple of 2 to 3 months as Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has announced in the Assembly during the recent monsoon session that water would be pumped into some of the PRLIS reservoirs soon.
As part of the proposal sent to the expert committee for the appraisal of the projects, the State government has informed the panel that works on different components of the projects have been completed in the range of 42.5% to 91% so far.
The expert committee was convinced about the project requirement in the drought-prone region but underscored the need for implementation of remedial measures for restoration of ecological sanctity for ensuring sustainable development.
Further, the committee has directed the project proponent to follow the recommendations of the expert committee set up by the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on works executed without securing environmental clearance.
Ministers T. Harish Rao and S. Niranjan Reddy have welcomed the MoEF expert committee recommendation for green nod to PRLIS and termed it a victory of the drought-prone areas people of the erstwhile Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts and also another step forward towards realising the vision of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.
