Now Reading: Telangana police launch drive to protect lift irrigation schemes
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Telangana police launch drive to protect lift irrigation schemes
The Suryapet district police have launched a coordinated drive to prevent thefts of transformers, motors, wires and other equipment from lift irrigation projects. An awareness seminar was held on Thursday under Huzurnagar…
The Suryapet district police have launched a coordinated drive to prevent thefts of transformers, motors, wires and other equipment from lift irrigation projects. An awareness seminar was held on Thursday under Huzurnagar Police leadership, bringing together farmers and officials from irrigation, electricity and agriculture departments from Huzurnagar and Kodad constituencies.
District Collector Tejas Nandalal Pawar, SP Narasimha and Kodad MLA Uttam Padmavathi Reddy attended the programme. The Collector said thefts at government-funded schemes inflict heavy losses on farmers, and urged farmers to form cooperative societies and monitoring committees for every lift irrigation project. He recommended installing CCTV cameras at all sites and assured farmers he would take the proposal for farmer committees to the state government and Irrigation Minister.
The SP said thieves target remote lift irrigation schemes, stealing transformers, wires and oil, and said police will intensify patrolling and maintain point books at every site. MLA Padmavathi Reddy urged farmers to treat the schemes as their own property.
Indian Opinion Analysis
Lift irrigation schemes in Telangana have been frequent targets for organised theft rings that strip equipment for scrap metal, often causing weeks of downtime for farmers dependent on canal-fed water. Each stolen transformer or motor costs the exchequer several lakh rupees, and replacement delays can hit multiple cropping cycles. The district administration's push for farmer-owned monitoring committees mirrors similar successful community policing models adopted in Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh for rural infrastructure. The next concrete step to watch is whether the Irrigation Minister approves formalising these committees before the next kharif season, when demand for lift irrigation peaks.
Source: thehansindia.com
This story was synthesised by AI from the source linked above.
