hyderabad
The Telangana government has requested the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) to direct the Andhra Pradesh government not to proceed with the works of Varikapudisela lift irrigation scheme at Macherla in Palnadu district in two phases, with an estimated cost of ₹4,129.26 crore to draw 1.57 tmcft water from the foreshores of Nagarjunasagar project.
The new lift irrigation scheme would negatively impact the availability of water to the projects/irrigation systems based on Nagarjunasagar in Telangana, Engineer-in-Chief (Irrigation-General) of Telangana said in a letter addressed to the Chairman of KRMB. The ENC stated that the new project was neither appraised by the river board nor approved by the Apex Council, as required. It was brought to the notice of the river board that the Chief Minister of AP had laid the foundation stone for the Varikapudisela LIS on November 11 to draw 281 cusecs of water from Nagarjunasagar every day for irrigation and drinking needs. The AP government had also issued orders giving administrative sanction to the project in February 2019 with an estimated cost of ₹340.26 crore.
