Karimnagar: “My dream has come true on seeing the Mid Manair reservoir filled to its full capacity of 25 tmc ft with Godavari water supplied through Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS),” Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao told media persons on Monday.
He said performing puja standing at Mid Manair Dam after completion of the project has given him immense pleasure and happiness. “With completion of the 9th package, we will now be able to get around 50 to 60 tmc ft of water without depending on Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP),” he remarked.
The immediate benefit is that farmers will be able to cultivate two crops without depending on SRSP. With 50 tmc ft of water in Mid Manair and Lower Manair dams, along with 60 tmc ft of water in barrages under KLIS project, we will now be able to store total 110 tmc ft of water, Mr Rao underlined.
Addressing a press conference later, he said, “In the past, farmers used to look at clouds for rains before starting their agriculture operations. That time has now gone in Telangana. There will be no famine in Waran-gal, Khammam, Karim-nagar, Nizamabad and Nirmal districts. We had to suffer till now due to intense discrimination by the then rulers.”
Mr Rao recalled that at the Simha Garjana meeting of 2001, he had said that once Telan-gana is formed, its districts would become much better than the delta regions of West and East Godavari districts. In those days, farmers had to face famines. People of Karimnagar district even migrated to Dubai and Gulf countries for livelihood.
“But now, with Lakshmi, Saraswati and Parvati barrages, Godavari River water will be available for 365 days along a distance of 145 km. Even the groundwater levels have increased,” the Chief Minister stated.
He asserted that no party other than the TRS has the commitment to develop the state. The Congress and the BJP do not have complete knowledge of the available water resources or the geography of Telangana, he maintained.
Mr Rao said Manair is the longest river flowing in Karimnagar district over a distance of 185 km. The old Kakatiya canal in the district covers about 200 km while the flood canal runs for 160 km. Construction of about 29 check dams over Manair and 10 over Mulawagu will be completed by June, he said.
