ANANTAPUR: The Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) project, considered the lifeline of Rayalaseema, has achieved a historic milestone by lifting more than 40 TMC of water within 190 days during current water year, the fastest in project’s history.
Water lifting operations began on July 17, when Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated pumping from the Srisailam backwaters through the Malyala Pump House. So far, 40.31 TMC of water has been lifted. Of this, 1.57 TMC was utilised in the erstwhile Kurnool district, while 38.74 TMC reached the Anantapur district boundary.
Officials noted that never before has such a large quantity of water been pumped in a single season within such a short span. In 2021–22, pumping stations operated for 265 days to lift 40.01 TMC.
This season, operations are expected to continue until the end of March, with a target of 50 TMC likely by the first week of March. The improved performance follows a Rs 3,800-crore investment by the NDA government to widen the main canal, increasing its carrying capacity. Since the project’s inception, 316 TMC has been drawn from the Srisailam backwaters to the erstwhile Anantapur district. At present, water is being lifted at 2,343 cusecs at the Malyala Pump House, while 2,160 cusecs are flowing at the Anantapur boundary.
Of the 38.74 TMC received, 3.39 TMC has been utilised, and 35.34 TMC has reached the Jeedipalli reservoir for diversion to minor tanks.
Additionally, 21.59 TMC has been released to the Sri Sathya Sai district, benefiting reservoirs such as Gollapalli, Marala and Cherlopalli, and supplying water to Madakasira and Punganur branch canals.
HNSS Superintending Engineer A Raja Swaroop Kumar said 50 TMC would be drawn by the end of February or early March. He noted that canal capacity, earlier limited to 2,200 cusecs, has been increased to 3,850 cusecs after widening works.