BJP leader Shashidhar Reddy urges Telangana govt to shun Kodangal lift irrigation scheme

Hyderabad: Senior BJP leader Marri Shashidhar Reddy on Wednesday urged Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to shun the proposal to take up Narayanpet-Kodangal Lift Irrigation scheme which may cost Rs 6,000 to Rs 8,000 crore and instead go in for the low-cost, high return 'Four Water concept of Watershed Development programme'.

In a letter to the CM, Shashidhar Reddy, a former vice chairman of National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), said the 'Four Water concept' would cost only Rs 150 crores.

The 'Four Water concept of Watershed Development programme' was suggested by late engineering expert T Hanumantha Rao.

Shashidhar Reddy said the Narayanpet - Kodangal Lift scheme would provide irrigation for only one crop in about one lakh acres though the ultimate capital expenditure may go up to Rs 6,000 - Rs 8,000 crore.

The cost of implementation of the Hanumantha Rao concept works out to Rs 15,000 per acre, whereas it would cost Rs six - eight lakhs per acre if the total project is about Rs 8,000 crore, he said.

The Hanumantha Rao concept was implemented for the first time in Telangana in 2001-02 in some villages of the state at a meagre cost of Rs 5,000 per acre. It has resulted in the availability of water for three crops in a year with hardly any O&M (operation and maintenance) charges, he claimed.

"The main idea is that every drop of rain is utilised by structures from ridge to valley in each watershed area," Shashidhar Reddy said.

In the Four Waters concept, the focus is on using rain water, surface water and groundwater, and maintenance of soil moisture at a high level.

"Government has now the choice to choose between the expensive option of lift irrigation and low cost, high return Hanumantha Rao Concept at a meagre total cost of about Rs 150 crore," Shashidhar Reddy said.