In South Telangana, the Palamuru region, one of the most backward areas of the country, is at odds with Nalgonda, the national headquarters for the fluorosis problem.
Both regionspart of the Krishna basin, have faced generations of neglect and water scarcity. While Palamuru has endured severe calamities, leading to large-scale migration in search of employment, Nalgonda has suffered from crippling fluorosis for three generations.
The Rs 50 crore Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), intended to address this dire situation, remains incomplete, with final clearances still pending. Thanks to Supreme Court intervention, the drinking water component of the project has been approved.
The Government of Telangana has undertaken the PRLIS to alleviate the misery of these drought-prone areas, benefiting 1,428 villages and providing drinking water to about 50 lakh people. The scheme aimed to irrigate approximately 12.3 lakh acres in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy, and Nalgonda districts.
However, the Congress government’s decision to prioritize the Dindi project, benefiting Nalgonda district, has sparked controversy. Ministers M. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Komat Reddy Venkat Reddy have been leading this mission. The people of the Palamuru region have raised concerns, opposing the transformation of PRLIS into the Palamuru-Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme.
Leaders of the Palamuru Adhyayana Vedika leaders have written an open letter to all elected representatives from the region, including Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, MLAs, MLCs, and MPs, urging the government to address the water concerns of the Palamuru region first. Nalgonda was of late being served by multiple projects including the Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal and the Srisailam Left Bank Canal.
They recalled that Palamuru people have been fighting for the past three decades for constuction of Irrigation project at an upstream point on krishna, above Jurala project to ensure justice to the region. But unfortunately the PRLIS was costructed making it dependant on the backwaters of Srisailam. If the concens of Palamuru were left unaddresed, the region would continue to be at the receiving end for many more generations. (EOM)
