{
  "id": 11698262,
  "title": "Irrigation Minister asks officials to pursue clearances, speed-up Gouravelli project",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/03/irrigation-minister-asks-officials-to-pursue-clearances-speed-up",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-03T13:59:44.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "The Hindu",
    "slug": "the-hindu",
    "url": "https://www.thehindu.com/news/national/telangana/irrigation-minister-asks-officials-to-pursue-clearances-speed-up-gouravelli-project/article71540694.ece"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "The Telangana government is intensifying efforts to expedite the Gouravelli irrigation project, initiated during the Congress era in united Andhra Pradesh, by addressing outstanding approvals, land acquisition, and rehabilitation issues, Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy announced. At a meeting to evaluate the project's advancement, Reddy emphasized the importance of converting the already invested significant capital into delivering irrigation benefits across the intended 1.06 lakh acres. Transport and BC Welfare Minister Ponnam Prabhakar and senior department officials attended the session. Reddy directed officials to establish a clear work plan, promptly process compensation claims, and bring financial, administrative, and legal obstacles to the attention of superiors. He reminded the audience that Gouravelli, located in Akkannapet mandal of Siddipet district, is part of the Indiramma Flood Flow Canal project, following the Sriramsagar Project. The project's construction agreement was signed in May 2008, with the reservoir's capacity upgraded from 1.410 tmc ft to 8.230 tmc ft in December 2017 via a supplementary agreement. However, progress stalled due to the absence of necessary clearances. Reddy noted that 98% of the reservoir works were completed, and the bottleneck issues to be addressed before irrigation benefits are realized include environmental clearance, the final land acquisition, rehabilitation obligations, and canal construction. He stressed that the reservoir's completion should be accompanied by a fully operational canal and distributary network to deliver water to agricultural fields. The total expenditure on the project so far amounts to ₹1,343.59 crore, including ₹886.76 crore on works and ₹456.83 crore on land acquisition and rehabilitation. Completion would require an additional ₹114.39 crore. Reddy instructed revenue and irrigation officials to prioritize land acquisition and submit the revised reservoir estimate of ₹1,457.979 crore to the Chief Secretary for consideration before the next Cabinet meeting. He pointed out that the project's expansion without prior clearance during the BRS regime resulted in proceedings before the National Green Tribunal, which has suspended further construction pending new environmental clearance. Irrigation officials confirmed that the environmental-impact assessment, environmental-management plan, public-hearing reports, and three-season baseline data have been uploaded to the PARIVESH (MoEF) portal. Reddy urged the officials to finalize the documentation for the appraisal meeting scheduled for October 8 and coordinate with the Advocate General and project counsel to submit the latest legal developments and updated project records to the NGT before its October 16 hearing.",
  "summary": null,
  "key_points": [],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}