Maha-Telangana ink pact to share water from irrigation projects on Godavari river

Chief Ministers of Maharashtra and Telangana on Tuesday signed an agreement on the sharing of water from irrigation projects to be constructed on the Godavari River.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis and Telangana CM K Chandrashekara Rao signed an agreement which paved the way for construction of three new barrages on Godavari and its tributaries Penganga and Pranahita. The projects are planned in Telangana but will provide water for irrigation to Maharashtra.

As part of the agreement, the Chanaka-Korata barrage will be built on Penganga River. This barrage with 213 metre height and 0.85 TMC storage will irrigate land in Maharashtra and Adilabad district of Telangana.

After the signing of the agreement, KCR stated that with the signing of the pact, the two states have set a new trend. He added that Maharashtra and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh had long standing disputes over the projects across Godavari, but there was no progress in resolving them.

Apart from this, Telangana will build a barrage of 100 metre height and 16 TMC storage capacity at Medigadda, which will be constructed as part of Kaleswaram project. Telangana will also build Tummadihatti barrage on Pranahita with a height of 148 metres and 1.8 TMC storage. This will help in irrigation of two lakh acres of land in Adilabad district bordering Maharashtra. According to government figures, the projects under Kaleswaram put together are expected to irrigate 16.4 lakh acres in Telangana and over 50,000 acres in tribal areas of Maharashtra.

Fadnavis said that the agreements would protect the interests of both the states and it would ensure minimum submergence. He added the projects will lead to irrigation of 30,000 acres of land in Maharashtra.