VIJAYAWADA: The Water Resources Department officials on Thursday started the pumps of Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme to divert Godavari floodwater to Krishna basin. The officials said that three of the 24 pumps were switched on to divert 1,050 cusecs and that more water would be pumped based on the inflows.
The officials said that it was the first time in season to have operated the pumps after November, 2019. The water is expected to reach Prakasam Barrage in two-three days through the Polavaram right main canal and will be used to meet the needs of Krishna delta.
Polavaram project chief engineer B Sudhakar Babu, along with other officials, switched on the pumping motors as the flood water in Godavari has been on a rise for the past many days. It may be recalled that the lift irrigation project began operations in 2015 and was used to divert 4.2 TMC of flood water using only four pumps.
Once all the works were completed, 55.7 TMC were diverted using 24 pumps in 134 days in 2016. In 2017 and 2018, 105.8 TMC and 96.4 TMC were diverted in 161 days and 165 days respectively. In 2019, 42.99 TMC was diverted over 90 days, the officials said. "In total, almost 305 TMC of Godavari flood water was tapped and diverted to Krishna basin for Krishna delta in the last five years," the officials added.