The Environment Ministry has in-principle approved diverting about 3,200 hectares of forest land for construction of Kaleswaram (?????????) project stage-one. <br/><br/>The Telangana government proposed Kaleswaram lift irrigation project across River Godavari near Kaleswaram in Karimnagar (???????) district at a cost of over 13,000 crore rupees to irrigate about 45,000 hectares and provide drinking water to over 65 villages. <br/><br/>The forest land is in eight forest divisions of the project. Communicating its approval through a letter, the Ministry instructed the state government to take up compensatory afforestation over the non-forest land equal in the extent to the forest land being diverted in three years with effect from issue of stage-2 clearance.