Officials ignores the Kalangi reservoir maintenance

Tirupati: Kalangi reservoir storage capacity has fallen drastically for the last 15 years. Ignoring the maintenance by the water resource department officials, Kalangi reservoir is in ruin stage. It may be noted that this was built in 1965 to provide irrigation water to 4,560 acres of agricultural lands in eastern mandals of the Chittoor district. During the present rainy season though, plenty of rainfall recorded water flows are not stored in the reservoir due to lack of maintenance. WRD officials did not take any measures to clear the silt inside the reservoir, the measure has to take at least once in two to three years. It did not happen, hence reservoir actual storage capacity was drastically fallen.

In the meanwhile reservoir 10 gates in ruin stage out of 16. Engineering staff totally ignored the greasing of the gates, with the fault of officials laksh of worthy iron shutters (gates) that were not in working condition. All the water which was coming in during the rainy season is leaking through shutter holes. As well as Kalangi left and right bank canals were in damaged condition and not able to discharge water flows from reservoir to down areas irrigation tanks.

Earlier, sufficient irrigation water from Kalangi reservoir would discharge to 14 irrigation tanks, now the situation turned as too worse, more than 5000 above farmers have been suffering in every rainy season without water flows in Kalangi reservoir. Even though floods were coming in the reservoir during the rainy season, bund was not as strong, its strength had fallen weak. And if flood water would receive heavily in the reservoir, low-lying areas people especially Kalangi villagers will be fallen in danger.

The threat has been facing from several years by the thousands of villagers. A farmer K Subbaramaiah said that previously we could cultivate at least three crops in a year by the availability of irrigation water in Kalangi reservoir . Now the situation is not in favour of cultivating two crops in a year. We are cultivating only a single crop with few water reserves which are available in the rainy season in reservoir, he added.