Chief Minister KCR to launch wet run of key irrigation project

Hyderabad, Sep (IANS) The wet run of the first stage of Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) will be launched by Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao on September 16.

He will switch-on the first pump of Narlapur pump-house of the project near Yellur in Nagarkurnool district.

The mega pumps at Narlapur pump house with an operational capacity of 145 MW will pump water into Narlapur reservoir which is two kilometers away.

The decision was taken at a meeting Chief Minister KCR conducted with top officials on Wednesday to review the progress of the work on PRLIS.

KCR said it would be festival day for south Telangana as villages in the region will get water for drinking and irrigation purposes.

He said PRLIS should be completed with the same spirit with which Kaleshwaram was completed.

During the launch, Chief Minister KCR will perform puja at Krishna river and will later address a public meeting.

Village sarpanches and people from all villages in Palamuru and Rangareddy districts will attend the programme.

They will take waters of Krishna river to every village in kalash and anoint the village deities in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar and Rangareddy districts as a thanksgiving for removal of all hurdles in the launch of the project.

KCR said that with this project the goal of Bangaru (golden) Telanana will be realised.

The project is aimed to provide irrigation water to 12.30 lakh acres in erstwhile Mahabubnagar (also called as Palamuru) and Rangareddy districts.

The PRLIS will be powered by pumps with the highest capacity in the world. The capacity of the motors of Narlapur reservoir will be 145 MW, whereas the capacity of the motors of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme earlier completed by the state on Godavari river is 139 MW.

The engineers of Irrigation Department and those of the contract agencies including MEIL had conducted dry run of the first pump of Narlapur pump house on Sunday.

The Narlapur pump house would have a total of nine pumps of 145 megawatt capacity each to lift water to 104 metres height and put it into Narlapur reservoir with a storage capacity of 8.51 tmcft.

The work has been completed already on two pumps in the pump house at Narlapur, three each at Yedula and Vattem reservoirs.

The pump houses near Yedula and Vattem reservoir would have 10 pumps each to lift water to a height of 124 metres and 121 metres height, respectively, the pump house at Uddandapur reservoir would have five pumps – all of the 145 MW capacity – to lift water to a height of 122 metres.

The Expert Appraisal Committee (EAC) of the Union Environment Ministry had last month given environmental clearances for the project.

KCR had noted that the lift project got the clearance when the first stage works reached the final stage.