Irrigation pact: State sticks to Telangana CM’s ‘muhurat’

MUMBAI: It was not just about signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) but also signing it at the right time.

MUMBAI: It was not just about signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) but also signing it at the right time.

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Three MoUs were to be signed between Maharashtra and Telangana to construct inter-state irrigation projects in the area bordering the two states. The office of chief minister Devendra Fadnavis ensured that it stuck to the auspicious time (muhurat) between 2.30pm and 2.45 pm on Tuesday.

The request came from the office of Telangana chief minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, said Mantralaya officials.

“We don’t follow ‘muhurat’ for signing MoUs and other government events but a request was made by the office of Telangana CM. We were told that Rao wanted the MoU to be signed between 2.30pm and 2.45pm which was respected by our side,” said a senior official privy to the development.

Accordingly, the officials were told that there should be no delay at all.

Rao is known to believe in ‘vaastu’ and this led to the reconstruction of Telangana secretariat building.

According to reports, the Telangana CM recently ordered building a new secretariat complex on the existing premises at a cost of Rs200 crore as the existing structure lacked good ‘vaastu’ and planning.

The MoUs signed between the two states will pave way for constructing Medigadda barrage of Kaleshwaram project, Tummadi Hatti barrage as part of Pranahita-Chevella project and Chankha-Korata barrage on Godavari, Pranahita and Penganga rivers that flow through both the states.

The project is expected to help Maoist-infested Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Yavatmal districts of Maharashtra in bringing 30,000 hectares of land under irrigation.

The construction of Tummadi Hatti barrage was re-engineered and redesigned after the Maharashtra government refused to allow Telangana to construct the barrage originally conceived by the former Rajasekhara Reddy government.