Kaleshwaram is priceless. In the recent times, we have seen a few spill venom on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) which is the lifeline of Telangana. They went to court multiple times to stall the project but did not get the results they wanted. Now, they have chosen the path of propaganda against the project. My intention is not to counter them, but rather to clarify to people of Telangana.
While fighting for Telangana State, we questioned the injustice that was done to us over the last 60 years over our water drawing rights. This is the government that made Telangana a reality. It’s now determined to make it Bangaru Telangana. And as part of this, providing water for agriculture is the most important thing.
Even after 70 years of Independence, we see farmer suicides in the country. Telangana, a newly formed State, is determined to see its farmers progress and we are providing them all possible support. When Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao took oath on June 2nd, 2014, one of the major challenges was to increase the cultivable area in the State.
Since Independence, the only major irrigation project undertaken in Telangana was Pochampad, in 1964. It could serve only some parts of erstwhile Nizamabad, Karimnagar,Warangal and Nalgonda through gravity. As a result only 30.43 per cent of the cultivable land in the State has irrigation -- that is, 22.89 lakh ha of the 75.21 lakh ha cultivable land.
As Telangana lands are about 150-620 metres above the Godavari level, lift irrigation was the only option left with the government to help farmers. Now the question was, how to make maximum use of this lift irrigation project, this was the first questioned welcomed by newly formed TRS government.
After six months of brainstorming and consultation with senior irrigation experts across the world, the solution arrived was to construct three barrages across River Godavari between Yellampally and Medigadda, at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla. Medigadda was chosen because more water is available here due to confluence of the Pranahitha river.
Whenever the inflow of Godavari is less at Yellampally, water from Medigadda can be made available through reverse pumping. Now, the command area proposed under this project is a part of the balance command area not covered by any other schemes such as Sri Rama Sagar Project, Flood Flow Canal Project from SRS, Nizam Sagar project and Sripada Yellampalli project among others. While the erstwhile Congress government failed to get required clearances for the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi project from the Central Water Commission, the vision of Chief Minister KCR in redesigning the project as suggested by the Commission and amicably resolving inter-State disputes with Maharashtra accelerated the works to ensure water for a total ayacut of 37.08 lakh acres. No project in united Andhra Pradesh was completed without an escalation of project costs. For instance, initial estimates for Nagarjunasagar was Rs 122 crore, but the final cost was a staggering Rs 1183 crore. Similarly, the initial estimated cost of Sriramsagar was Rs 40 crore, but the final cost was Rs 4300 crore.
Cost escalation is the result of a change in the prices of the commodities. So, if the project gets completed early, the possibility of prices escalating is less. With this in mind, we appeal to opposition parties to cooperate with our mission to realise the dream of Bangaru Telangana. As a welfare State, we first think about people and then the costs. If the project has the capacity to impact crores of lives, then it should be taken up by the government at any cost.
b vinod kumar
TRS MP from Karimnagar
Email: vinodkumarboianapalli@yahoo.com