Irrigation Officials Race To Complete Sadarmat Barrage Works To Irrigate 18,000 Acres

The barrage is expected to provide irrigation water to about 18,000 acres under its ayacut, including 13,120 acres in Nirmal district and 5,000 acres in Jagtial district. Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy is likely to inaugurate the barrage shortly.

The new barrage was built at a cost of ₹676 crore, including ₹120 crore paid towards the acquisition of 1,170 acres of land. Recently, the state government sanctioned ₹14 crore for electrification works, which officials said are expected to be completed within the next 10 days.

Efforts are being made to complete all remaining works in time to release water for the rabi season. The irrigation department has written to the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) seeking permission to store water in the barrage ahead of Rabi.

District officials have stepped up efforts to complete the pending works at the earliest, ahead of the proposed visit of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to the site.

An old Sadarmat anicut, constructed in 1897 during the Nizam rule at Medampalli village in Khanapur mandal, still exists at the same location and is regarded as an engineering marvel. The structure, built as a check dam across the Godavari River, received the Central Water Commission’s Heritage Award in 2018. The new Sadarmat barrage has been constructed on the Godavari River, about 7 km upstream from the old anicut, in Mamada mandal.

Khanapur MLA Vedma Bojju told Deccan Chronicle that the Chief Minister would inaugurate the new barrage soon, adding that senior Congress leaders from Nirmal had briefed him on the project’s benefits. Nirmal collector Abhilasha Abhinav recently inspected the ongoing works at the barrage and directed engineers to expedite completion at the earliest.