KCR promises to give boost to minor irrigation

Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Thursday promised to give a major boost to the minor irrigation in the Telangana State.

Addressing the meeting of engineers of Irrigation Department from across the State at the JNTU, Kukatpally, the Chief Minister emphasised on the need for revival, protection and modernisation of small tanks and wells in Telangana State. Stating that the government plans to spend Rs 50,000 Cr to Rs 70,000 crore in the next five years for the purpose, he said massive awareness campaigns should be launched to achieve the goal. Besides organising festivals, the Chief Minister said that he plans to pen a song on the importance of small tanks.

The Chief Minister said that the revival and modernisation of each minor tank requires nearly Rs 50 lakh. The State Government aims to modernise at least 9060 minor tanks on annual basis and in the next five years, nearly 45,300 tanks would be covered. This would ensure transformation of entire Telangana State into a Green Belt.

Claiming that the water-shed development concept was first implemented in the 11th Century by the Kakatiya rulers, KCR said that small tanks and wells were neglected by the Andhra rulers since the merger of Telangana with Andhra State in 1956. He claimed that small tanks used to irrigation nearly 15 lakh acres while 5 lakh acres of land was cultivated through wells. However, the Andhra rulers completely eliminated the minor irrigation from Telangana. He said that the State Government plans to restore all minor tanks and well to their original position and also modernise them to ensure that no piece of land in Telangana is prone to drought.

The Chief Minister said that the engineers would have to play an active role in implementing the plans of the State Government. He said that his government would not tolerate any negligence in this regard. He said blamed the wrong policies of the previous governments for the suicides committed by farmers due to lack of power and water. He said people, especially farmers of Telangana, have lot of expectations from his government and he would take all steps to perform to meet their expectations. He asked the officials to sensitise people on the importance of small tanks and wells at the mandal-level.

Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao, in his address, assured that funds would not come in the way of restoration and development of minor tanks and well and asked the officials to implement the plans without any delays.