23.8.16

KCR, Fadnavis to sign pact on Godavari water sharing

Telangana and Maharashtra on Tuesday will enter into what is being touted as a historic pact on sharing Godavari river water. Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao is scheduled to sign the agreement with his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis during Godavari River Board meeting in Mumbai on Tuesday .
As a mark of growing bonhomie and cooperation between the two neighbouring states over water sharing, Telangana and Maharashtra earlier in March entered into five separate memoranda of understanding (MoU) on irrigation projects to be built across river Godavari and its tributaries Penganga and Pranahita. Telangana officials said the MoUs were turning into a final agreement between the two chief ministers. “It's historic since the agreement being arrived at is an example of how two neighbouring states can strike an amicable deal through proper understanding rather than fighting with each other. The Board will meet on Tuesday and the agreement will be signed after the meeting,“ said Sridhar Rao Deshpande, officer on special duty to Telangana irrigation minister T Harish Rao.
The chief minister will leave for Mumbai on Tuesday morning. Ministers including Harish Rao, finance Minister Etela Rajender, agriculture minister Pochram Srinivas Reddy and forest and environment minister Jogu Ramanna were scheduled to leave for Mumbai on Monday evening. Among the agreements to be signed, significant are the ones for building Thammidihatti dam, the height of which Telangana government agreed to reduce from earlier proposed 152 metres to 148 meters. Another significant agreement is related to the Medigadda barrage, besides Chanaka-Korata, Rajapet and Penpahad projects. All these projects are part the redesigned version of Pranahita Chevella lift irrigation scheme that has been renamed as Kaleswaram project.
When completed, the projects under Kaleswaram put together are expected irrigate 16.4 lakh acres in Telangana and over 50,000 acres in tribal areas of Maharashtra.

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