There, but not there!

Hyderabad: Lack of vision and extreme hurry to inaugurate a project to gain political mileage has resulted in the state losing 73 TMC of Godavari waters this season from the Medigadda barrage under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project in the last six days.

It may be recalled here that the piers of seventh block of the Medigadda barrage had suffered damage in October 2023 due to sub-standard construction and poor operation and maintenance of the structure. This had become a major election issue during the 2023 Assembly elections.

The BRS now was trying to counter the criticism using a video shot with the help of a drone that had gone viral saying that despite good inflows the barrage was safe, and the Congress was blaming the BRS for political purposes. But the BRS does not explain the fact that the barrage which has 85 gates had to be kept open and entire water that was coming from the upper riparian state was going down to Andhra Pradesh and from there it was going into the sea. The dam so far has not developed any fresh damage as the gates were kept open. Keeping gates open is as good as not having the barrage.

The purpose of constructing the barrage is to store water. Irrigation officials say that it is as good as having disbanded the barrage for the present. The government is waiting for the final recommendations of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) before it can take up repairs or reconstruction works. Officials said "the outflow from Medigadda was 41,200 cusecs every day on July 15 and 16 and 49,000 cusecs on July 17. The barrage discharged 53,400 cusecs on July 18 and 3.42 lakh cusecs on July 19. On July 20, the total water discharged was 2.80 lakh cusecs."

Flood flow has been increasing to the Medigadda barrage due to heavy rains in the catchment areas in Maharashtra and also in Telangana. The NDSA has alerted the state government not to store water in the Medigadda barrage. This would also lead to a situation where it would not be possible to supply water for agriculture during Kharif and next Rabi season.

The situation at the Annaram barrage upstream of Medigadda is also no different. The NDSA has asked the Irrigation department to stop storing water in the barrage. All 66 gates have been opened to save the barrage which suffered seepage problem due to heavy inflows last year.