Hyderabad: Rains in the catchment areas of the Godavari and Pranahitha have raised water levels in the three main barrages of the Kaleshwaram irrigation project. Other projects on the Krishna and Godavari too are receiving good inflows due to rains in their catchment areas.
Given the abundant availability of water in the three Kaleshwaram barrages -- Lakshmi (Medigadda), Parvathi (Sundilla), and Saraswathi (Annaram) – the irrigation department has released water into canals so as to fill up irrigation tanks.
According to the Irrigation Department, the water level in the Lakshmi Barrage at Medigadda was 98.90 m against a full reservoir level (FRL) of 100 m on Friday. Inflows into the barrage were of the order of 1,27,000 cusecs while outflows were 1,35,000 cusecs. The present storage is 12.7 tmc ft against the capacity of 16.17 tmc ft.
In the Parvathi barrage at Sundilla), the water level was 127 m against
the FRL of 130 m; present storage is 4.8 tmc ft against the full capacity of 8.83 tmc ft.
In Saraswathi (Annaram), the inflows recorded were 2500 cusecs and water storage is currently 8.8 tmc ft as of Friday.
Villages in erstwhile Adilabad, Karimnagar, Nizamabad, Medak, Warangal and Nalgonda are witnessing brisk farming activity for the Vanakalam crop (kharif) on the strength of the Godavari water being distributed through canals to irrigation tanks.
Sridhar Deshpande, officer on special duty in the Irrigation Department, said the Kaleshwaram Project was designed to irrigate 18.25 lakh acres and stabilize another 18.82 lakh acres by lifting 2 tmc ft of water from the Godavari at Medigadda.
Stating that the lifting capacity would be gradually be increased to 3 tmc ft, he said the project would also provide drinking water to hundreds of villages and towns through the Mission Bhagiratha scheme.
The officer said the Godavari’s waters were already reaching Hyderabad from the Sripada Yellampally Reservoir to cater to the city’s drinking water and industrial needs.
He said the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) has changed the face of the Godavari basin in Telangana and would contribute to the development of inland navigation, fisheries, temple and eco tourism, water sports in around the project areas.
