KCR names Ghanpur anicut in Medak District as the Vana Durga Project

Hyderabad: Chief Minister Chandrasekhar Rao said that the Irrigation Department in the state will undergo a major revamp, in line with the latest developments in the irrigation sector. He said that the sector has changed a lot since the formation of the state. Some of the changes included but not limited to the increase in the ayucut due to the construction of projects, canals, reservoirs and pump houses, and an increase in the workload of the irrigation department.

In order to streamline the work, all the wings in the department will be grouped under one umbrella while more territorial jurisdictions, headed by the Chief Engineers (CE), will be created.

The CM held a review meeting on Tuesday at the Pragathi Bhavan here on revamping the irrigation department. It was accepted in principle to increase the existing territorial jurisdictions headed by the CEs from 13 to 19. It was agreed that Adilabad, Mancherial, Jagtial, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Ramagundam, Warangal, Mulugu, Khammam, Kothagudem, Gajwel, Sangareddy, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Mahbubnagar, Wanaparthy, Nagar Kurnool, and Hyderabad will turn into territorial jurisdictions. All the projects, tanks, IDC lifts, reservoirs, barrages, pump houses, canals, sub-stations will come under these territorial jurisdictions. The irrigation department, which was divided as major, medium and small IDC wings, will now function as one department and it would be called as the Water Resources Ministry.

The CM decided to rename Ghanpur anicut in Medak District as the Vana Durga Project. The CM instructed the officials concerned to revive the canals under the Pakala project. Narasampet MLA Peddi Sudarshan Reddy requested the CM that by reviving the canals built under the Kakatiya dynasty, 30,000 acres of the ayucut can be stabilised. The CM responded positively since reviving the canals would mean protecting the heritage. The CM instructed the officials to prepare estimates in this regard.