KARIMNAGAR: THE prestigious Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, dubbed an ‘engineering marvel’ by the State government, reached another milestone on Sunday by successfully conducting the wet run of Package-8 under the scheme in Lakshmipur of Ramadugu Mandal.
The water was discharged into the gravity canal, after being lifted to a height of 115 metres by the 139 MW capacity pumping unit. CCTV cameras were arranged in the area so that authorities including Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao can watch the execution of the wet run. Only one of the seven massive pumping units under Package-8, all of the same capacity, was used for the task.
With a capacity of 1.1 tmcft, the Package-8 surge pool is the biggest among all KLIS packages. Since August 5, water from Package-7 in Nandi Medaram had slowly been reaching the surge pool. Water from Nandi Medaram reached the surge pool in two phases, through two tunnels.
Ahead of the wet run, the water available in the pool had reached 222 metres, official sources said. Since early Sunday morning, authorities led by KLIS Engineer-In-Chief Nalla Venkateshwar Rao had been working on and streamlining the technical issues they were facing ahead of the procedure.
Meanwhile, the water released from the project, after merging into the flood flow canal at Sriramulapalli, would flow for another 5.75 km before reaching the Mid Manair Reservoir. From Lakshmipur to Mid Manair Reservoir, the water would only flow through the gravity canal. With the run being successful, test runs for the remaining pumps would also be conducted soon. It is likely that the CM inaugurates and releases the water on Wednesday. Meanwhile, revenue authorities alerted people of Thangallapalli and Chinthaltana against going to the Mid Manair Project area at the time.
‘Bahubali’ Motors
Package-8 of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project has seven massive pumping units -- each with a capacity of 139 MW -- popularly known as the ‘Bahubali’ Motors. Each motor can lift 3,142 cusecs of water from the surge pool and pour it into the gravity canal.