Crops of kharif get Kaleshwaram water

Hyderabad: After a gap of nine months, water from Kaleshwaram is being pumped to help the farmers during the ongoing kharif season.

The state irrigation wing is drawing water from the Yellampalli project and lifting it from the Nandi Medaram pump house. It may be mentioned here that the issue of supply of water for agriculture from Kaleshwaram had become a bone of contention between the Government and the opposition.

On the first day, the engineers operated two motors at Medaram and another two would be operated by Sunday morning to lift 12,000 cusecs of water to Mid Manair with four pumps. Water lifted from Medaram would reach Lakshmipur pump house and from there it would reach Mid Manair via a local canal.

Arrangements to fill Anantagiri, Kondapochammma Sagar and Mallanna Sagar reservoirs are being made to meet the irrigation needs in the ongoing farming season. Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy asked the officials to deploy a team of engineers at the pump houses to monitor lifting of water without any technical problems. 

The officials have been directed to monitor inflows at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages which were opened for free flow of water to prevent further damage of the barrages. On the recommendations of NDSA (National Disaster Management Authority), the state government has stopped lifting of water from the three damaged barrages and decided to lift water from Yellampalli for agricultural needs. For the last nine months, the entire Kaleshwaram project was kept idle due to the stoppage of the functioning of the three barrages. Since it was farming season, special arrangements were made to lift water from Yellampalli without affecting the structures of the three barrages,” a senior irrigation official said. At present, water levels at Yellampalli was 17.37 tmc feet of the total capacity of 20.18 tmc ft. All the gates of the Yellampalli would be lifted when water reached the optimum levels under the influence of heavy inflows in the Kadem project. The Irrigation Minister said the Yellampalli project, which was constructed by the Congress government, rescued entire farmers of the Godavari delta during this agriculture season to lift water.The three barrages which had been constructed in the previous BRS regime, were not in use in the crucial time.