Hyderabad, Oct 25 (SocialNews.XYZ) Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy will meet his Maharashtra counterpart, Devendra Fadnavis, in Mumbai on Monday to discuss the construction of the Tummidihatti Barrage.
A delegation led by Revanth Reddy was slated to leave for Maharashtra on Sunday evening.
After an overnight stay, the delegation will call on the Maharashtra Chief Minister at the Sahyadri State Guest House at 11 a.m. on Monday.
According to the Telangana Chief Minister’s Office (CMO), the Chief Ministers will hold discussions regarding the Tummidihatti project.
The meeting will also be attended by Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy and senior officials from the department.
The Telangana delegation will be seeking Maharashtra Chief Minister’s approval for construction of Tummidihatti Barrage across the Pranahita River, a tributary of the Godavari, at a height of 152 meters.
Telangana will be trying to convince the upper riparian state to give its nod for building the barrage at 152 metres instead of the previously agreed 148 metres.
The long-pending project is expected to address irrigation and drinking water requirements of northern Telangana.
The Telangana delegation will impress upon the Maharashtra Chief Minister that increasing the barrage height to 152 metres would enable Telangana to divert a large volume of water from the Pranahita River and thus improve irrigation facilities in the undivided Adilabad district and other parts of northern Telangana
At a meeting on October 23, CM Revanth Reddy had asked the officials to be prepared for talks with Maharashtra on Tummidihatti Barrage, by building a case to convince the upper riparian State.
Revanth Reddy told the meeting that Fadnavis has expressed his willingness to hold talks.
Engineers of the Irrigation Department briefed the Chief Minister on the details about possible quantities of water diversion/lifting to the Yellampally project with 152 metres Full Reservoir Level (FRL) and 150 metres FRL of the Tummidihatti Barrage. They stated that no villages would be submerged in Maharashtra with the construction of the barrage and only 2,300 acres would face submergence with 152 metres FRL and less than 1,000 acres with 150 metres FRL.
The Chief Minister instructed the authorities to estimate the submergence in Maharashtra so that the state could be convinced for diversion of maximum possible water by Telangana.
He told the officials to share all necessary information sought by the Central Water Commission (CWC) following a meeting between the officials of the two states held at New Delhi last month.
Stating that the barrage was being planned to irrigate 2 lakh acres ayacut in the most backward Adilabad district comprising mostly forest and tribal areas, Revanth Reddy expressed hope that those who fought with the slogan of ‘jal, jungle, jameen’ would get benefit from the project.
He pointed out that Maharashtra had agreed to 148 metres FRL in the past, but such a low-height barrage would not enable Telangana to get/divert expected quantities of water.
He told the officials to be prepared with all technical reports, water availability, and extent of submergence to convince Maharashtra to permit 152 metres FRL.
Source: IANS
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