Environmental Clearance given to the Kaleshwaram project void
Part of: GS Prelims and GS-III – Defence & Security
In news
Recently, the National Green Tribunal has ruled that the Environmental Clearance given to the Kaleshwaram project in December 2017 was void.
This was so because the Telangana government subsequently changed the design of the project to increase its capacity.
Key takeaways
The petition filed in 2018 stated that while the Kaleshwaram Project was a lift irrigation system, the state government had wrongly claimed, until the grant of environmental clearance (EC), that the project was not for lift irrigation, but only for drinking water supply.
The NGT has now directed that until the Telangana government obtains final forest clearance, it should stop all work except the drinking water component.
Important value additions
The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation System is considered to be one of the world’s largest multi-purpose projects.
It is designed to provide water for irrigation and drinking purposes to districts in Telangana, apart from Hyderabad and Secunderabad.
The project starts at the confluence point of Pranahita River and Godavari River.
