Water resources dept revamp gets CM’s nod

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday gave his nod to revamp the water resources department. It now includes the major, medium and small irrigation departments and the Irrigation Development Corporation (IDC).

Reviewing the process with senior officers at Pragathi Bhavan, the Chief Minister accorded his in-principle approval for increasing the number of irrigation circles headed by chief engineers from 13 to 19.

According to the Chief Minister’s Office, it was agreed to make Adilabad, Mancherial, Jagtial, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Kamareddy, Ramagundam, Warangal, Mulugu, Khammam, Kothagudem,

Gajwel, Sangareddy, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Mahbubnagar, Wanaparthy, Nagar Kurnool and Hyderabad as the territorial jurisdictions to be headed by chief engineers.

It was decided that all the projects, tanks, IDC lift irrigation projects, reservoirs, barrages, pump houses, canals, and sub-stations come under the territorial jurisdiction of the chief engineers.

During the review, the Chief Minister said there was a vast difference in the situation that existed before the formation of the state and after, and irrigation facilities had been vastly increased.

With the construction of projects, canals, reservoirs and pump houses, the area under irrigation had also increased, which resulted in a heavy workload of the irrigation department.

Keeping in view the changed scenario, it was decided to create more territorial circles for efficient management of water resources.

Chandrashekar Rao decided to name the Ghanpur Anicut in Medak Districts as Vana Durga project. He instructed the officials to revive the canals under the Pakala project, following a request from Narasampet MLA Peddi Sudarshan Reddy.

The MLA said the canals built by the Kakatiyas which would help stabilise 30,000 acres.

The Chief Minister said that reviving the canals of the Kakatiya dynasty would mean protecting the proud heritage of the Telangana state.