Kaleshwaram project transformed Telangana into a new rice bowl of India: KTR

Hyderabad: Industries Minister KT Rama Rao on Monday informed that the Kaleshwaram project had transformed Telangana into a new rice bowl of India irrigating 9 million acres of land with two crop cycles and the gross irrigated land had increased by 119 per cent and paddy production has multiplied by fourfold.

Rama Rao delivered a keynote address at the World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2023. The Minister showed an audio-visual clip showing the growth of Telangana. He said that with the Kaleshwaram project, the ground water level increased by six meters.

“Once a dry region and parched land, today has become a case study for IAS officers when they are inducted into the service. The cultivable area has increased from 2.5 million acres to 9.7 million acres. Planned investments in new irrigation projects and revitalisation of existing systems contributed to the expansion of cultivated lands, said Rao.

He further said that this was a story of resilience and transformation. It was an account of ground breaking engineering achievement. Telangana has not only built world’s largest multi-staged lift irrigation project in a span of four years but also the first State to have completed piped drinking water in the name of Mission Bhagiratha. These two remarkable projects were not only completed in a record time but also with utmost efficiency and cost effectiveness. The State has gone up from 24th to 2nd in paddy cultivation.

The Minister recalled that before 2014, desperate farmers were burdened by borewells, lack of irrigation facilities and no support for farming from the government. The migration of farmers was rampant, and suicides were common.

Rama Rao said that the Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had a clear vision of transforming Telangana and improving lives of the people through strategic planning, innovative thinking and meticulous executions. He translated his vision into tangible results.

The completion of project stands as a testament to exceptional leadership and ability to turn ambitious ideas into concrete achievements of KCR, who recognised untapped potential of River Godavari flowing at a lower elevation he assumed the role of a chief architect and engineer, said Rao adding the colossal engineering marvel was completed within a span of four years with an investment of 11 billion Dollars.

Sharing statistics, he said that the earth moved during construction of the project was equal to 101 Pyramids of Giza, steel used was equal to 66 Eiffel Towers, concrete used was equal to constructing 53 Burz Khalifas. The Kaleshwaram lift irrigation stands as a remarkable engineering feat, spanning a vast distance of 500 km with 13 districts, extensive canal network of 1800 km. The project had a transformative effect on India’s irrigation landscape. The project aims to utilise 240,000 cubic feet of water for irrigation, drinking water and industry consumption, said Rao. He shared that these two projects helped in the Green Revolution with improved paddy production, White Revolution in the form of Milk production capacity growing by 380 per cent, and the Pink revolution with improved livestock production. “KCR by lifting the rivers against all odds has uplifted millions of lives,” said Rao.