Kaleshwaram will not affect interests of Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh government needs to chalk out a practical plan to tap more quantum of water from Polavaram so that it could be diverted to Krishna and Penna.
Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (Photo | EPS))
Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (Photo | EPS))

VIJAYAWADA: Even as a few political leaders expressed apprehensions that Telangana’s Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) would prove costly to Andhra Pradesh, irrigation expert and former member of Krishna-Godavari-Penna basins drainage board Yerneni Nagendranath contended that there would be no adverse effect on the State. 

He argued that the 500 TMC of water requirement of Andhra Pradesh would be met by Polavaram irrigation project from July to October and by Sabari-Sileru from October to April.

In a media interaction here on Friday, Nagendranath pointed out that Telangana could tap approximately 475 TMC of Godavari water through the three lift irrigation projects -- Kaleshwaram (350 TMC), Devadula (70 TMC) and Sita Rama (55 TMC) -- in a year. 

“The Godavari water allocation to Telangana and AP is 936 TMC and 550 TMC. So, even if 475 TMC is tapped through the three lift irrigation schemes, it will be well within its allocation, as neither AP nor Telangana is able to draw even half of its allocated water.

“In AP, we can draw about 300 TMC from Polavaram and 272 TMC from Sabari-Sileru between July and October. Between October and April, another 225 TMC will be available in Sabari, as per the data of the last 36 years, to meet the irrigation needs of our State. So, Kaleshwaram will not pose any problem to us,” he argued, adding that he was open to debate with those who claim otherwise.

What the AP government needs to do immediately, Nagendranath observed, is to chalk out a practical plan to tap more quantum of water from Polavaram so that it could be diverted to Krishna and Penna basins.

“There is about 2,500 TMC of water available at Polavaram every year. But, there is no practical plan as to how it can be diverted to Krishna and Penna basins.  

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