Telangana to complete Singur Dam safety works on a war footing

Hyderabad: Telangana's Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday directed officials to complete Singur Dam safety works on a war footing.

Along with Health Minister Damodar Raja Narsimha and Mining and Employment Generation Minister Vivek Venkataswamy, he reviewed the safety of the Singur Dam, a drinking water lifeline for Hyderabad.

Stating that the dam is very prestigious for the state, the ministers said that its safety is a top priority for the government.

The ministers instructed the Irrigation Department officials to protect the Singur Dam as per the rules formulated by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA).

They advised the irrigation officials to appoint a technical committee on the dam safety works.

The State Dam Safety Review Panel (DSRP), in its report last year, had warned that the Singur Dam may collapse anytime, with a very real and serious threat of its embankments getting breached, resulting in huge loss of life.

Designed to hold 29.91 tmc ft of water, and located upstream of the Manjira reservoir, the dam supplies around 6.96 tmc ft to meet the drinking water needs of Hyderabad.

The panel said Singur faced a serious threat of breaching unless urgent repairs were taken up. The DSPR, during its inspection, found that the entire earthen bund had developed several vertical cracks, which should be repaired immediately.

The state ministers directed the engineering officers of the Irrigation Department to complete the lining works of the Singur project canals by June 26.

Principal Secretary, Irrigation, E. Sridhar, key officers of the Irrigation Department, the Engineer-in-Chief and other officials attended the meeting.

The ministers directed the Irrigation Department officials to prepare the DPRs for the Peddareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, which will provide irrigation water to 40,000 acres in Andol constituency, at the earliest and submit them to the government.

The foundation stone for the Peddareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme should be laid by Ugadi, the ministers added.