When completed, it will be India’s largest lift-irrigation project, boasting of the longest gravity canals, aqua-ducts and tunnel systems, spanning some 1,055 km. More than that, the Rs 40,000 crore Pranahita-Chevella project is being touted as the solution to all the problems of perennially parched Telangana: It is expected to irrigate nearly 17 lakh acres of cultivable land, which is currently at the mercy of monsoon, and provide drinking water to over a dozen towns and cities, including Hyderabad and Secunderabad.

Once phase-I of Godavari project is commissioned, the water will first reach Hitec City, Sainikpuri, Cantonment, Kapra, Alwal, Malkajgiri, Qutbullapur, Kukatpally, Rajendernagar and Serilingampally areas. In other words, the residential colonies of surrounding municipalities, which are reeling under severe water scarcity, will be the first among the beneficiaries to receive Godavari water. To put the internal distribution system in place for the supply of Godavari water in the city alone will cost nearly Rs 500 crore.

A division bench comprising Justice V.V.S. Rao and Justice G. Krishna Mohan Reddy of the Andhra Pradesh High Court on Saturday directed the Karimnagar district collector to convene a public hearing on the 500 MW gas-based combined cycle power plant in Guggilla village of Bajjanki mandal of the district by March 3. The bench passed the interim order while dealing with a plea by M/s Elgen (India) Ltd., urging the court to declare as illegal the delay in conducting the public hearing despite issuing a notification on Janaury 23, 2012.

The Andhra Pradesh Pollution Control Board has directed 97 healthcare establishments with over 100-beds capacity to submit bank guarantee within a week, assuring that they would conform to Biomedical Waste (Management and Handling) Rules. Located in Hyderabad, Warangal, Ranga Reddy and Karimnagar districts, these hospitals were found violating rules.

The Chief Minister, Mr N. Kiran Kumar Reddy, on Sunday said the drinking water problem in Malkajgiri municipal areas will be solved soon as the government is taking up works to provide new water lines, construct storage reservoirs and improve distribution network at an estimated cost of Rs 270 crore.

A fact-finding team representing a collective of 40 farmers' organisations, Raitu Swarajya Vedika, has found an alarming rise in the number of suicides by farmers — as many as 90 in the last month alone — in Adilabad, Khammam, Karimnagar, Medak, Mahbubnagar and Anantapur districts of Andhra Pradesh.

Oct. 7: Illegal sand quarrying is rampant in the district as the administration has failed to finalise the tender process for quarries for the last three months.

Warangal, Sept. 14: About 100 tribals people fell ill after drinking contaminated water in Kommarigudem thanda in Wardhanapet mandal on Tuesday.

While 50 people were treated at Wardhanapet civil hospital, including 25 who have been given intravenous liquid, the rest were treated at a special medical camp at Inovolu primary health centre.

District medical and health officer V.

Aug. 22: The state roads and buildings minister, Mrs Galla Aruna Kumari, said that proposals had been made for projects worth Rs 3,560 crore, extending to over 712 projects for the state. The Central governm-ent too has given a positive picture, stating that the State of Accruals were in proper shape due to which a sub-meeting would be soon organised.