Hyderabad: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s dream project Narayanpet-Kodangal Lift Irrigation (NKLI) scheme has got positive response from the Centre. The Union ministry of Environment and Forests issued Terms of Reference (ToR) to grant environmental clearances to the lift irrigation scheme which provides irrigation facility to one lakh acres in old Mahbubnagar district. The government will prepare Environment Impact Assessment (EIA) and Environment Management Plan (EMP) reports before taking up the construction of the project.

The notification for ToR issued by the Union ministry said that the daily inflow data at the Jurala dam site from 2001–02 to 2024–25 has been analyzed to determine the number of days each year when the inflow exceeded 12,500 cusecs.

Based on this analysis, at 75 per cent dependability, the inflow exceeds 12,500 cusecs for 50 days in a year. The NKLIS requires approximately 49 days to lift the targeted 7.10 TMC of water. Therefore, the water requirement of NKLIS can be met reliably.

The proposed irrigation will be 75 per cent surface and 25 per cent micro-irrigation with crops consisting chillies, cotton, maize, groundnut, sunflower, red gram, and vegetables. The paddy is cultivated under minor irrigation tanks and is not included in the proposed command area.

The EIA report will identify the relevant environmental concerns and focus on potential impacts that may change due to the construction of proposed project. Based on the baseline data collected for three seasons (Pre-monsoon, monsoon and winter seasons), the status of the existing environment in the area and capacity to bear the impact on this should be analysed.

Based on this analysis, the mitigation measures for minimizing the impact shall be suggested in the EIA/EMP study.

Officials said that the state government has already sanctioned Rs 4,500 crore for the project recently.