AP wants Kaleswaram stalled

​Vijayawada: The Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation Scheme proposed by the Telangana government to channel Godavari waters raises the hackles of the AP government, fuelling interstate water war.

M Venkateswara Rao, Engineer-in-Chief, AP Water Resources Department, reportedly mailed a complaint to the Central Water Commission, raising objections over the lift scheme. In the letter, he was said to have maintained that the move will infringe upon the riparian rights of the state located downstream the Godavari river.

Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao was not available for comment on the brewing controversy over sharing of waters between the two Telugu states.

According to information, the lift scheme is proposed to exploit 180tmcft of the river water to irrigate around 18 lakh acres in Telangana allegedly by presenting a distorted picture on availability of water in Pranahitha, a tributary of Godavari.

The AP government has claimed that the availability of water at the location where the lift scheme was proposed was less than the claims of the TS government, it is said.

In fact, water available at the point is estimated at 165tmcft even as the Telangana government said in the detailed project report (DPR) that it was around 282tmcft, it added.

The peasant organizations and irrigation experts from AP raised apprehensions over the fate of the Godavari delta spread over 10.5 lakh acres and the Polavaram project under construction with a cost shooting up to around Rs 40,000 crore.

Besides, the situation in the Krishna delta, relying on Godavari through the Pattiseema project is sure to turn from bad to worse in view of the lift scheme, they worried.

Of the volumes of the water available in Godavari, Pranahita accounts for 43 per cent, Indravati 30 per cent and Sabari 5 per cent. The Kaleswararam LI Scheme is proposed at the confluence of Godavari and Pranahita.

The AP government contends that Telangana is reportedly planning to ‘overexploit waters of Pranahita and Indravathi rivers before the tributaries let water into Godavari by way of lift schemes. The lift scheme intends to pump waters into Singur, Nizamsagar and SRSP reservoirs.

Similarly, Telangana is proposing a number of ‘shake hand barrages’ to pump water from Perur to SRSP on Godavari in a reverse direction (from AP side to Telangana), causing a lot of worry to the downstream state.

Telangana is said to have planned to construct five barrages in addition to the existing SRSP and Yellampalli in addition to two more projects between Tupakulagudam and Dummugudam.

“Telangana wants to lift Godavari water from a height varying from 90 mtrs to 600 mtrs during the non-flood period in the river Godavari in a reverse direction to take precious liquid up to a distance of 1000 km, a Irrigation official said.

The official said AP endowed with the Krishna-Godavari delta basins with feeding from the Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar will turn into a desert if the Telangana’s plans become a reality.

Telangana has reservoirs with a storage capacity of 206.50tmcft in its kitty as of now and is keen to build additional reservoirs to store another 250tmcft to harness the Krishna and the Godavari waters, it is said.

By: K Varaprasada Rao