Buoyed by the recommendation of MoEF expert committee for grant of environmental clearance to Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, the project engineers are getting ready to conduct dry run of the Yellur pumping station for first-stage lifting of water soon to pump water into Anjanagiri reservoir at Narlapur and also second-stage lifting at Yedula to pump water into Veeranjaneya reservoir.
According to the project engineers, they have plans to do wet run of at least one pump each at the two pumping stations by the month-end. Since charging of the 60-km 400 KV transmission line from Dindi sub-station to Yedula sub-station was already completed in mid-June, the two pumping station have no power supply issues.
Of the eight and nine pumps of 145 megawatt capacity each to be installed in the two pumping stations, respectively, the irrigation authorities are planning to commission at least 5 pumps each by the year-end. The second pumping station would also have a spare pump of the same capacity.
On the construction of reservoirs, a field-level engineer who preferred not to be quoted, said work on Anajanagiri was 90% complete and the construction of twin tunnels between Anjanagiri and Veeranjaneya reservoir is 67% complete. He explained that one tunnel is complete in all respects, including the lining work, and the second one is in progress.
The length of the Anjanagiri reservoir bund is 11 km and that of Veeranjaneya is 12.4 km. Work on the Veeranjaneya reservoir is about 91% complete.
Following the MoEF panel recommendation for green nod to the project, Minister for Agriculture S. Niranjan Reddy has asked the farmers to celebrate the occasion at all six balancing reservoirs of the project, which are designed to have a combined water storage capacity of about 68 tmc ft.
Plea for national status
On the other hand, another Minister V. Srinivas Goud has demanded that the Centre accord national project status to PRLIS as promised by Prime Minister Narendra Modi during a public meeting in Mahabubnagar during the run up to 2014 elections. He alleged that the Centre had given national project status to Upper Bhadra last year as the BJP was in power there, in spite of the Centre making a statement in Parliament that the process of giving national status was discontinued.
