Major breach in Peddavagu project empties reservoir

Kothagudem : Thousands of farmers rely on the Peddavagu reservoir to irrigate their crops, but their dreams were dashed on Friday when a massive breach developed in the Peddavagu medium irrigation project in Gummadavalli village in Aswaraopet mandal in the district. It led to draining the reservoir.

On Friday, irrigation authorities, Superintendent of Police B Rohith Raju, and Kothagudem district Collector Jithesh V Patil visited the project and assessed the condition. Irrigation officials estimate that filling up the breach may cost around Rs 20 crore.

On Thursday night, one of the three project crest gates was left open due to a failure, causing a breach in the project bund. The reservoir was filled with floodwaters from the upper watershed, which includes parts of Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

Heavy inflows were observed into the reservoir after multiple tanks in Buttaigudem, AP, burst. The two gates discharged 35 000 cusecs of water, but the inflow unexpectedly surpassed 70 000 cusecs.

Floodwaters eventually created a 250-meter-long breach by the side of the project spillway after washing over the reservoir earth bund.

Project water inundated the following areas: Kammarigudem, Ontibanda, Koyamadaram, Kothapuchirala, Pathapuchirala, Allurinagar, Sondigollagudem, Vasanthavada, Gullavai, and Velerupadu in the district of Eluru in AP; Gummadavalli, Koyarangapuram, Kothur, and Ramanakkapet in the district of Kothagudem.

In the impacted villages, standing water was knee deep, and some 2000 families were reportedly relocated to safer areas. Nearly 16,000 acres – 2,360 in Telangana and 13,640 in Andhra Pradesh – are irrigated by the project which was completed in 1981. The project is situated on the borders of AP and Telangana. Earlier, there was a breakdown in the project in 1989. It was claimed that the project’s breach, which lacked sufficient maintenance, was caused by the officials’ alleged negligence. The irrigation officials had previously suggested using Rs 100 crore to restore the infrastructure.

Since Telangana and AP share the project waters, both are required to pay maintenance costs in the ratio of 15:85; however, AP has not yet provided its share of expenditure. Irrigation officials stated that the Godavari River Management Board has informed the AP government about the project’s safety and upkeep.