On completion, the Telangana irrigation project will provide irrigation waters to farmers round the year. It will lift 160 TMCFT of water from the Godavari.
Laying the foundation stone for the much-touted Kaleswaram irrigation project at Medigadda in the Karimnagar district on Monday morning, Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao said that all irrigation projects would be completed on time even if there were hurdles likes earthquakes or floods, and despite all the railing by the Opposition parties.
Accompanied by his wife Shobha, Deputy Chief Minister Kadiam Srihari, ministers Eatala Rajender, Tanneer Harish Rao, Pocharam Srinivas Reddy and A Indrakaran Reddy, Speaker S Madhusudhana Chary, Deputy Speaker Padma Devender Reddy, MP and TRS secretary-general K Keshava Rao, E Ravinder Reddy, TSRTC Chairman Somarapu Satyanarayana, Errabelli Dayakar Rao and others, KCR performed the bhumi puja for the pumphouse at Kannepally village before laying the foundation stone for the Medigadda barrage at Ambatipally village.
On completion, the project will provide irrigation waters to farmers for all 365 days a year. It will lift 160 thousand million cubic (TMC) feet of water from the Godavari. The Medigadda barrage at a height of 100 metres can store 16 TMCFT of water. Two more barrages will also be built at Annaram and Sundilla, to store 6.22 TMCFT and 2.16 TMCFT of water respectively. The water will then be lifted to various existing projects and this will require 4,500 megawatt power.
In addition to bringing 18.5 lakh acres of land under irrigation, the project will also stabilize 11.8 lakh acres of existing irrigated land. Medak will be biggest beneficiary as 7.30 lakh acres will be irrigated in the district. It will also benefit the Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Adilabad, Warangal and Ranga Reddy districts.
The Rs 84,000-crore project, expected to be completed in three years, will also augment the drinking water supply to Hyderabad, while 10% of the water will be allocated for industrial use. The project will pave the way for impounding water in a total stretch of 54 km to get Nizam Sagar ample waters and help irrigate two crops in Karimnagar. Farmers can draw waters from pump houses to be completed in two weeks while barrage works are on.
Speaking on the occasion, the Chief Minister said that the State would make use of all the 1,300 TMCFT of waters as per GOs issued before the bifurcation of united Andhra Pradesh. Kaleswaram would be a boon for the North Telangana districts, and 2.50 lakh acres in the Adilabad district would be irrigated by drawing waters to Pranahitha from Tummidihatti and building the Chanaka-Korata barrages, he said. He also declared that Kaleswaram would also be made a tourist spot, and sanctioned Rs 25 crores for temple development.
In a reply to the Andhra Pradesh government and the Opposition parties of both the Telugu States that he claimed were coming in the way of the projects, KCR said that no force on earth could stop the Telangana government from using its rightful share of the irrigation waters by completing the projects. He lashed out at the Congress for adopting multiple standards and making "mindless" comments. "At least now the Opposition should keep quiet and support the completion of the projects," he advised.
KCR said that the Maharashtra government had agreed to the project, and that he would talk to his counterpart Devendra Fadnavis to sign the deal to speed up the works.