WANPARTHY: The famed Sarala Sagar irrigation project in Kothakota Mandal in the district breached at Shankarampeta village on Tuesday morning. The farmers of the area who noticed the breach brought it to the notice of the authorities. The full storage capacity of about 0.5 tmc ft of water completely drained out due to the breach. Traffic movement between Atmakur and Wanaparthy came to a halt for a couple of hours with waters gushing through the breach and submerging the road that connects the two towns. According to sources, the pro j e c t h a d breached as no one had bothered to strengthen the bund though the reservoir was full to its brim for the first time after 10 years.
The officials have been asked to divert the water that had escaped from the project to Ramanapadu reservoir so that the water could be put to better use. Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy, after inspecting the breach said that the breach would be closed sooner than later and the irrigation experts would arrive to take stock of the situation. He said that the bunds of the reservoir would be strengthened and that the CM was aware of the need for further repairs to the project. The farmers under the project have raised crops in about 4000 acres. Meanwhile, TPCC spokesperson Indira Shobhan, speaking to media persons in Hyderabad, said that the project, was one of its kind in Asia, and had breached because of negligence of the State government. She said that the government had turned a deaf ear to the requests of the engineers to clear proposals for repairing the project which, she said, had led to the breach. Sarala Sagar was constructed with the siphon system and inaugurated in 1959. Since its commission, it continues to be the only one-of-its-kind in India and Asia.