Hyderabad: The Union government has rejected Telangana request to grant national project status to the prestigious Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation (PRLI) Scheme, citing an ongoing legal dispute between Andhra Pradesh and Telangana over Krishna river water sharing.
Union Minister of State for Jal Shakti Raj Bhushan Choudhary informed the Lok Sabha on Friday that the Centre could not accept Telangana government’s request as the matter was sub judice. The Krishna Tribunal-2 is currently conducting hearings on the dispute, while the case is also pending before the Supreme Court.
It is noteworthy that Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy had earlier appealed to Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Union Jal Shakti Ministry to grant national project status to the lift irrigation scheme.
The project aims to provide irrigation facilities to drought-prone areas in the erstwhile Ranga Reddy and Nalgonda districts while also addressing the drinking water crisis in Greater Hyderabad. During multiple meetings with the Prime Minister in New Delhi, the Chief Minister emphasized the importance of the scheme and the need for Central assistance to complete the multi-crore project.
Responding to a question from Congress MP Ch Kirankumar Reddy in the Lok Sabha, Union Minister Raj Bhushan Choudhary reiterated that the Jal Shakti Ministry was not considering Telangana’s demand for national project status to the PRLI scheme. He also stated that the government had submitted a techno-economic report on the project, but the Centre had not taken it into consideration due to ongoing legal proceedings.
“A case regarding the distribution of Krishna water between Telangana and Andhra Pradesh is pending in the Supreme Court, and the Krishna Tribunal is conducting an inquiry into the water-sharing issues. Under these circumstances, granting national project status to the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme is not feasible,” the minister clarified.
Additionally, Choudhary revealed that the Telangana government had submitted its proposal for the national project status to the Ministry of Jal Shakti in September 2022. However, the ministry had returned the request to the state government in December 2024, citing the legal complexities surrounding the issue.
