VIJAYAWADA: The recent heavy inflows into the Srisailam project from both the Jurala on the Krishna River, and Sunkesula Barrage on the Tungabhadra River, and later heavy inflows, when one of the gates of Tungabhadra Dam in Hosapete was washed away, which was closed later with the stop-lock-gate, have once again brought to the fore a major drawback of Kurnool district -- lack of holding reservoirs.
Though there is a major irrigation project - Srisailam Dam, the people of Kurnool are unable to utilise its water fully as it is meant to cater to the needs of the regions downstream in both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana.
There is no other project on Tungabhadra in Kurnool district, besides the Sunkesula Barrage, through which the Kurnool-Cuddapah (KC) Canal gets water. Sunkesula’s storage capacity of 1.2 TMC is not sufficient for its irrigation needs. Despite heavy rains from time to time in the river basin, due lack of adequate storage capacity, the water cannot be retained.
Speaking to TNIE, M Subbarayudu, a retired irrigation engineer, said, “Gundrevula Balancing Reservoir with a capacity of 15-20 TMC is a perfect solution to the problem. It will not only serve the irrigation needs of KC Canal farmers but also quench the thirst of hundreds of villages in the western mandals of Kurnool district.”
The proposal for the Gundrevula project was submitted to the State government on April 13, 2011. The project proposed at Gundrevula village in C Belagal mandal of Kurnool district, is totally a gravity-based one.
In November 2013, the then government gave administrative sanction for Rs 54.95 lakh for preparing the Detailed Project Report. Subsequently, the ARVEE Association had prepared the DPR. On November 19, 2015, the then District Collector Ch Vijaya Mohan wrote a letter to the then Principal Secretary (Water Resources) Adityanath Das explaining the importance of the project, and sought administrative sanction. Once completed, the project will give a full assurance to the KC Canal ayacut of 2,65,628 acres in Kurnool and Kadapa districts for both Kharif and Rabi.
The project was estimated to cost Rs 2,400 crore, excluding land acquisition. A total of 4,464 hectares of land in Kurnool, 2,371 hectares in Mahbubnagar of Telangana, and 2,525 hectares of river portion would be submerged under the project. The issue was raised by the people of Kurnool time and again, whenever ministers and chief ministers visited the district. In 2018, just before the elections, a GO was issued according in-principle administrative sanction for the project.
The subsequent government headed by YS Jagan Mohan Reddy also promised to take up the project. However, the project has remained a non-starter. During the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) meeting in Hyderabad in November 2023, the Telangana government had included the Gundrevula project as an agenda item. But the issue was not discussed as the then government of Andhra Pradesh did not evince any interest in the project.
“There is a need for a political will to construct the Gundrevula project which benefits generations to come,” opined an irrigation official.
Now, the people of Kurnool are hopeful that the TDP-led NDA government headed by N Chandrababu Naidu will take up the Gundrevula project, fulfilling its promise made in 2018.
Project can irrigate over 2.5 lakh acres
Once completed, the project will give a full assurance to the KC Canal ayacut of 2,65,628 acres in Kurnool and Kadapa districts for both Kharif and Rabi, apart from meeting the drinking water needs of Kurnool and adjoining villages all along KC Canal. The project was estimated to cost Rs 2,400 crore, excluding land acquisition.