Hyderabad, Aug.21 (RAHNUMA): Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday launched a war-footing drive to remove land acquisition and rehabilitation and resettlement (R&R) bottlenecks delaying key irrigation projects across Telangana.
He directed District Collectors to ensure that compensation already sanctioned or released reaches farmers and displaced families within one or two days wherever documentation is complete.
Holding an emergency video conference with District Collectors, Chief Engineers and senior officials, the Minister said Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was firm on resolving issues related to land acquisition, R&R, forest payments and other requirements to expedite irrigation projects. Accordingly, the Chief Minister had sanctioned ₹5,000 crore for the purpose.
Uttam Kumar Reddy made it clear that the sanctioned funds must reach displaced farmers and families. Crediting amounts to the Personal Deposit (PD) accounts of Collectors would not serve the purpose, he said.
“The money must ultimately reach the farmer or the displaced family. The purpose for which the government has provided these funds should be fulfilled,” he said, directing officials to eliminate every avoidable administrative gap between sanction and final payment.
The State government has so far released ₹2,782 crore, of which about ₹566 crore has actually reached beneficiaries. Another ₹989 crore is at various stages of disbursement, while ₹199 crore is available with districts where payment processes are yet to commence.
This means nearly ₹1,200 crore can be pushed to beneficiaries immediately or with minimal procedural action, the Minister said, directing Collectors and irrigation officials to treat the payments as an urgent priority. Another ₹455 crore related to cleared tokens is awaiting further processing.
Uttam Kumar Reddy called for daily monitoring of the gap between funds released and payments actually credited to beneficiaries.
Collectors were asked to deploy additional staff and special teams wherever necessary instead of allowing procedural issues to delay compensation.
He also instructed Collectors not to wait for funds to reach their PD accounts before completing land acquisition formalities.
Acquisition proceedings, consent awards and token generation should be completed in advance. Once award numbers and token details are forwarded, the Irrigation Department would pursue the required releases with the Finance Department, he said.
In Jagtial district, the Minister directed officials to distribute funds already credited for land acquisition within one or two days. He rejected a one-week timeline sought by officials, stating that there was no justification for withholding compensation once funds and beneficiary details were available.
In Siddipet district, officials were directed to proceed with consent awards covering about 180 acres required for the Mallanna Sagar feeder canal and other works without waiting for the entire financial process to conclude.
Land acquisition for the Munneru-Paleru Link Canal in Mahabubabad district also figured prominently in the review.
Officials were asked to expedite consent awards and revised compensation estimates following negotiations with farmers so that unresolved acquisition issues did not delay the project.
The Minister also put forest-clearance bottlenecks on the fast track, stating that irrigation works should not remain stalled because of pending information or lack of coordination between departments.
District Collectors were instructed to convene joint meetings of revenue, irrigation and forest officials and immediately furnish all information required to resolve the pending issues.
