Hyderabad In a setback to the Telangana government, the National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Friday ordered a stay on the construction of the prestigious Palamuru Ranga Reddy lift irrigation scheme (PRLIS) being built on Krishna river on the grounds that it has no environmental clearance.
An interim order to this effect was issued by the southern bench of the NGT at Chennai, after a prolonged hearing on the petitions filed by the Andhra Pradesh government and a couple of farmers.
Senior counsel for Andhra Pradesh government in the tribunal D Madhuri Reddy told Hindustan Times that the tribunal had asked the Telangana government to stop all the works on Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation project until it obtained environmental clearance from the ministry of environment and forests (MOEF), Government of India.
“The tribunal has also rejected the Telangana government’s argument that AP government has no locus standi in raising objections over the project five years after its commencement,” Madhuri Reddy said.
The PRLIS is aimed at drawing 90 tmcft (thousand million cubic feet) of Krishna river from the backwaters of Srisailam reservoir for 60 days during the flood season to irrigate 1.23 million acres in Nagarkurnool, Rangareddy, Narayanpet, Mahbubnagar, Vikarabad and Nalgonda districts, besides providing drinking water to en route villages and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation, besides industrial use. The estimated cost of the project is ₹32,500 crore.
In July this year, a couple of farmers - Kosigi Venkataiah from Mahabubnagar district and D Chandramouli Reddy from Kadapa district- filed petitions before the NGT, Chennai bench. The Mahbubnagar farmer opposed the project stating that the authorities were indulging in indiscriminate extraction of soil from lakes to build a huge bund for Udandapur reservoir. The Kadapa farmer contended that the PRLIS was being constructed in the name of drinking water scheme without obtaining environmental clearance from the Centre.
{{/usCountry}}In July this year, a couple of farmers - Kosigi Venkataiah from Mahabubnagar district and D Chandramouli Reddy from Kadapa district- filed petitions before the NGT, Chennai bench. The Mahbubnagar farmer opposed the project stating that the authorities were indulging in indiscriminate extraction of soil from lakes to build a huge bund for Udandapur reservoir. The Kadapa farmer contended that the PRLIS was being constructed in the name of drinking water scheme without obtaining environmental clearance from the Centre.
{{/usCountry}}Later, the Andhra Pradesh government, too, impleaded in the case, stating that there is no need to excavate huge canals, tunnels and construct six reservoirs, if the PRLIS is meant for drinking water supply purposes.
Subsequently, the NGT constituted a joint committee consisting of a senior officer from the Union environment and forest ministry, a senior scientist from CPCB, Chennai, district collector, Mahabubnagar, director, mines and geology, and a senior scientist from National Environment Engineering Research Institute (NEERI) to inspect the project works and submit a report by August 27.
However, the committee failed to take up the inspection and submit the report as directed by the NGT due to the non-cooperation of Telangana government. Later, the tribunal appointed Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) chairman as nodal officer to get the inspection panel report.
The joint committee inspected project works in September and submitted a report to the NGT in October first week stating that Telangana took up irrigation works in PRLIS, instead of permitted drinking water component works. Following this, the NGT ordered a stay on Palarmaru-Rangareddy project works.
“The tribunal said the objections raised by the Andhra Pradesh government were valid and the responses given by the Telangana government were not satisfactory,” the AP government’s counsel said.