Sriramsagar project to get `1,000cr lease of life

Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao will lay the foundation stone on August 10 for works designed to give a new lease of life to the age-old Sriramsagar project taken up at a cost of `1,000 crore.

The major irrigation project with a capacity to store 90 tmc ft of Godavari water was constructed in undivided AP but no supplementation works were taken up.

Irrigation minister T. Harish Rao told newspersons on Tuesday that this great injustice done to TS has resulted in inflows into reservoir declining over the last few years due to construction of a series of barrages upstream by Maharashtra state.

He said that as part of the renewal project, waters

Several irrigation projects in TS were suffering due to poor inflows and this prompted the Chief Minister to rejuvenate, redesign and re-engineer the projects — T. HARISH RAO TS irrigation minister

drawn from Yellampally-Kaleswaram barrage would be lifted to the Flood Flow Canal that would be utilised as a reservoir due to its capacity to hold 22,000 cusecs.

He said that water will be lifted to a height of 30 metres at three places to be dropped in flood flow canal that will be linked to existing the canal network of SRSP so that whenever SRSP does not receive adequate inflows, water being lifted from downstream Godavari will be utilised at SRSP.

The existing flood flow canal has not been in use over some years as the water inflows into the Sriramsagar reservoir are not enough to build up the level to 1,070 ft.

As an alternative, Yellampalli lift canal from Yellampalli project is under construction with which, water will be lifted into Flood Flow Canal at Gangadhara to feed Mid Manair Dam, the minister said.

He said several irrigation projects in TS were suffering due to poor inflows and this prompted the Chief Minister to rejuvenate, redesign and re-engineer the projects.

Mr Harish Rao said that it was hoped in the coming years, water will be available in every project by diverting inflows from Kaleswaram barrage that takes care of all irrigation needs.