HYDERABAD: Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has written to Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis seeking discussions on increasing the height of the proposed Tummidihatti barrage and requested him to finalise a date for a meeting with a Telangana delegation.
In a letter sent on Wednesday, Revanth stated that even if the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) was increased slightly beyond 148 metres, the submergence impact in Maharashtra would remain minimal.
The chief minister said a fresh discussion on raising the barrage height was necessary to meet the irrigation and drinking water needs of erstwhile Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar and Medak districts. He also said a higher FRL would enable Telangana to draw water through gravity flow.
The Tummidihatti barrage has been proposed as part of the Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi project. Under the original proposal, the barrage was planned at an FRL of 152 metres.
However, during an Inter-State Board meeting held on August 23, 2016, the Maharashtra government agreed to the construction of the barrage at 148 metres FRL and assured cooperation in securing the required clearances.
The Telangana government recently reviewed the project and decided to revive and complete the Pranahita-Chevella scheme. Based on expert assessments, the state concluded that an FRL of 148 metres would not adequately meet the water requirements of north Telangana.