Telangana minister Harish asks AP to maintain proper levels at Pulichintala

Hyderabad: Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao has written to his AP counterpart Devineni Uma Maheswara Rao, requesting him to maintain water at the Pulichintala dam at the crest point to save crops raised by farmers in Telangana state.

Farmers under the coverage area of eight lift irrigation schemes in TS are dependent on the backwaters of the dam, Mr Harish Rao wrote. AP officials have been releasing water from the reservoir for the downstream Krishna delta. This has depleted the water level, and the LI projects do not have the water to supply farmers in TS. Farmers had protested at the dam two days ago and tried to shut off water release to AP.

Following this, Mr Harish Rao wrote to the AP minister said it would be appropriate if the AP government maintained the maximum draw down level at Pulichintala dam at 42.670 feet so that the lift irrigation schemes do not get affected.

However, following water release, the water is under the MDDL, at 32.77 feet with only 1. 5 TMC ft capacity. Mr Harish Rao listed the eight lift irrigation schemes that were affected as Chintalapalem, Buggamadharam, Revuru, Amaravaram, Chotapally, Yerragattu tanda, Gurrapodu and Chowtapally. These were required to supply irrigation water to farmers who were resettled after being ousted from their land by the backwaters of the dam.

In view of this, Mr Harish Rao requested the AP minister to ensure that the maximum draw down level is maintained at the dam for the standing crops for another two to three weeks.