KCR plans for new barrage on Godavari

Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, on a visit to the Laxmi barrage, a part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) at Medigadda in Mahadevpur mandal of Jayashankar Bhupalpally district on Tuesday, along with his wife Shobha, ministers and other leaders paid floral tributes to Godavari waters at the bathing ghat.

He directed officials to fill up tanks and reservoirs with water stored now at full-level at the barrage for supply during summer. He expressed happiness on seeing the project brimming with water and said a strategy was being finalised to construct a barrage at a point after river Godavari and Pranahita join so more water can be pumped for a longer time.

Water from Medigadda will reach Yellampalli, Mid-Manair, LMD, Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar, Baswapur and Gandhamalla reservoirs every year and arrangements are being made to supply water to Nizam Sagar from Kaleshwaram, Mr Rao said.

“Kaleshwaram project had redrawn the irrigation map of Telangana. With other projects like Tupakulagudem barrage and Dummugudem barrage of Sitarama project, we aim to put an end to farmers’ hardships once and for all,” he said, adding “our resolve to ensure farmers receive adequate water for two crops a year after formation of a separate Telangana state has finally come true.”

Chief Minister Rao congratulated Water Resources Department officials, working agencies and officials from other departments who toiled roundthe-clock, including during peak summer, for the completion of the project. He instructed them to prepare project-wise operational guidelines and implement them. He wanted other major projects in Telangana should be completed with the same spirit as KLIP.

“After a technical survey was done by WAPCOS, it was decided to construct a barrage at Medigadda. We estimated that with 16.17 TMC storage capacity if a barrage is constructed on a height of 100 metres, water can be pumped for seven months a year, which we have accomplished,” he said.

Currently, 16.17 TMC of water is stored at a height of 99.7 meters in the barrage. “The construction was expedited as planned. Pumping of water is going on without any problem. From Medigadda, water is stored till 54 kms in Pranahita and 42 kms in Godavari rivers,” Mr Rao said.