Irrigation lands identified, ownership transferred

Inventory of Irrigation Department assets unveiled to help PMS

The Irrigation Department has so far acquired 12.8 lakh acres land and the entire extent has been transferred in the name of the department by the Revenue officials, according to an inventory prepared by the department for proper management of the assets.

There are 125 reservoirs and barrages in the State and the length of main canals is 8,661 km. Besides, the distributaries run for 17,721 km and minor canals convey water for another 910 km. The number of major lift schemes was 125 and there are another 20 medium lifts and 13 small lifts in the State.

Further, the inventory states that number of tanks and ponds in the State is 38,510, check dams number another 8,021 and the length of tunnels is 175 km. There are 1,26,477 structures on canals, 108 sub-stations, 64 rain gauges and 21 river gauges.

The details of the inventory were unveiled at a workshop organised here on Tuesday. Speaking at the meet, Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Rajat Kumar said the inventory of all assets of the Irrigation Department was a prerequisite for proper reorganisation the department as also the management of assets.

He stated that the exercise had been taken up following the directions of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao to prepare a comprehensive inventory on all assets of the department, including the land acquired. He stated that the officials of the Irrigation and Revenue departments had been working on preparing the inventory for the last six months and it had a taken a proper shape now.

Mr. Rajat Kumar complimented the officials of Irrigation department for completing the task of inventory preparation, which was not done for the last 50 years, in just six months. The inventory would now allow proper project monitoring system (PMS).

However, completion of preparing the inventory was not the end of work but it had to be kept updated from time to time to make their hard work meaningful, Mr. Rajat Kumar suggested to the Irrigation officials. The inventory would also play a significant role in the reorganisation of the department that is on cards. He asked the engineers of the department from assistant executive engineer level to chief engineer to be part of the PMS.

Details of the inventory forming part of the PMS were explained by Godavari Basin Commissioner Madhusudan Rao. After detailed discussion, it was decided that the details of land to be acquired from now on had to be updated by May 31 every year along with lands leased to other departments.

Engineers-in-Chief C. Muralidhar, B. Nagender Rao, B. Hariram, G. Anil Kumar and N. Venkateshwarlu, officer on special duty to Chief Minister Sridhar Rao Deshpande, chief engineers and others attended.

Source: Read Full Article