Monsoon delays Telangana's Mission Kakatiya

The Telangana state government has put a halt to the Mission Kakatiya owing to the onset of the monsoon. Mission Kakatiya’s target to 9,306 tanks this year would be grounded for 6,667 and the remaining work will be resumed in October. The programme in a period of five years intends to repair 46,531 tanks in the state with an expenditure of nearly Rs 25,000 crore.

Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao expressed satisfaction with the progress of the programme in its first year and called in Telangana State’s biggest miracle. Stating that they are not upset over the sudden halt, Mr Harish Rao said that it is a big achievement to complete works in about 6,700 tanks within three months. He said that due to the mass programme with the involvement of villagers, locals, farmers, students and others Telangana state has achieved this much.

Mr Rao added that Mission Kakatiya created history in Telangana with over Rs 2,500 crore sanctioned for tanks in a year that was not spent in united AP even in 60 years. The Crop production will be enhanced by 20 to 30 per cent with the removal of over 3.50 crore cubic metres of silt which was transported to agriculture fields as nutrient/fertilizer, said Mr Rao.

Mr Rao informed that the Government will begin the works for the second phase in December to complete the works by June next year.

However, works in hundreds of tanks were obstructed particularly in Nizamabad, Mahbubnagar and Karimnagar due to the political rivalry between TRS and Opposition parties which resulted in hundreds of complaints being sent to Mr Harish Rao’s department through the helpline numbers. But the intervention of the department ensured the works being resumed in nearly 200 tanks within two days. Mr Rao even added that special measures will be taken in the future to avoid any political interference in the noble initiative of Mission Kakatiya.