Water first, slogans later: Uttam sets R-9 test
At an inspection in Suryapet, Telangana’s irrigation minister said projects should be judged by water delivered and acreage irrigated, while pledging to defend the state’s Krishna and Godavari entitlements.
The R-9 scheme is to be judged by water delivered and acreage irrigated.
Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy inspected the R-9 Lift Irrigation Scheme in Suryapet on September 6 and set a standard the state’s irrigation projects can actually be measured against: water reaching farmers and land receiving assured irrigation, not money spent.
“Irrigation projects should be judged by the water delivered to farmers and the acreage brought under assured irrigation, not merely by the money spent,” he said, according to reports by The Times of India and The Hans India. He also said the Telangana government would defend the state’s Krishna and Godavari water entitlements before tribunals, the Krishna River Management Board and other forums.
Reddy said the R-9 scheme’s utility, water losses and delivery delays were reviewed during the inspection. The public record located for the visit does not establish its cost, completion status, water delivered or acreage actually irrigated. An earlier report mentioned a proposed command area of 3,500 acres, but that figure is not confirmed by an official project document.
The minister also criticised the previous BRS government’s record on Kaleshwaram, Palamuru-Rangareddy and pending Sri Ram Sagar Project works. Those remain his allegations in the material reviewed, not independently established findings. For now, R-9 has a performance test. The department has yet to publish the marksheet.