13-07-2025
Govt will rope in Army officials to expedite irri projects: Uttam
Hyderabad: State Government expedited land acquisition and Relief and Rehabilitation ( R and R ) for all pending and ongoing projects. Two high profile experts from the Army in tunnel engineering would also be appointed to speed up tunnel works in the ongoing project soon.
State Irrigation minister N Uttam Kuamr Reddy instructed officials to give top priority to Palamuru Rangareddy and Sitarama sagar and complete the works in a time bound manner.
At a review meeting held Saturday, the minister assessed the projects' status across districts, identifying key stumbling blocks. Chronic land acquisition delays, he noted, have become a major drag on timelines and cost estimates. To fix that, he called for proactive engagement with affected landowners and communities. Compensation, rehabilitation, and resettlement, he insisted, must be handled transparently and sensitively. 'If we delay, we risk public backlash and legal trouble that could stall everything,' he warned.
Uttam said that Palamuru-Rangareddy and Sitarama Sagar, both are critical to irrigating large, drought-hit regions and asked for top priority to be given to every stage of these works, from canal lining to tunnel boring, with no interruptions.
He emphasised the critical role of tunnel works in several key projects, especially in regions where the terrain makes open canals impractical. To boost the department's technical capabilities, the Telangana Irrigation Department is bringing in two high-profile Army officers with deep experience in tunnel construction. General Harpal Singh, the former Engineer-in-Chief of the Indian Army, will come on board as an honorary advisor.
Meanwhile, Colonel Parikshit Mehra, a globally recognised expert in tunnel engineering, will be joining the department full-time. Both officers played key roles in the construction of the Rohtang and Zojila tunnels - two of India's most challenging infrastructure undertakings.
