Heavy Inflows Into Pranahita at Thummidihatti Proves BRS Wrong: Experts

Adilabad: Local leaders and irrigation experts are once again calling for a barrage at Tummidihatti in Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, as the Pranahita River has received significant monsoon inflows.

They note that the previous BRS government built its barrage at Medigadda, yet local communities saw little benefit. In contrast, the Pranahita now carries far more water than the Godavari, making it an ideal site for a new barrage.

Telangana Jala Sadhana Samiti convener Nainala Goverdhan pointed out that the heavy Pranahita inflows, later joining the Godavari, undermine BRS claims that Tummidihatti lacked sufficient water. Currently, only surplus floodwaters are released downstream via the Kadam project, and Godavari flows will increase only when SRSP and Sripada Yellampalli releases occur.

Sirpur (T) BJP MLA Palvai Harish Babu accused the former BRS government of misleading both Adilabad residents and the wider state by insisting that Pranahita’s flow was inadequate. He urged the state government to prioritize the Tummidihatti barrage over the underutilised Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme. He said 40-50 TMC ft of water has already been released this season into the lower Godavari from and added that the former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s government had built the Medigadda barrage at Kaleshwaram intentionally despite nearly 200 TMC ft of water availability in the river Pranahita.

According to B. Prabhakar, executive engineer of the Kagaznagar irrigation circle, the Pranahita has been carrying around eight lakh cusecs over the past three days into the Godavari. He recalled that in 2022, floodwaters from the Wardha and Wainganga rivers delivered some eleven lakh cusecs to the Pranahita.

Local resident Kodapa Shankar of Bejjur mandal appealed for immediate construction at Tummidihatti to prevent annual backwater flooding, which has isolated twelve villages and caused severe crop losses in the region.