ADILABAD: With temperatures soaring and water sources depleting, several irrigation projects in the erstwhile Adilabad district are nearing dead storage levels, triggering concern among farmers and officials alike.
The Kadam Project is particularly affected, with water levels dropping to 3.766 tmcft—barely above its dead storage level of 3 tmcft. The project’s full reservoir level (FRL) is 7.603 tmcft.
Due to heavy siltation, officials are struggling to accurately assess the remaining usable water.
Last year on the same date, the reservoir held 2.817 tmcft.
The Sri Pada Yellampalli Project, which supplies drinking water to Hyderabad, has also seen a sharp decline in water levels. Currently, the water levels stand at 9.3778 tmcft, as against its FRL of 20 tmcft. Officials are exploring alternative sources to meet drinking water needs.
To address siltation, the state government has launched a pilot desiltation project in the Kadam reservoir in Nirmal district, alongside two other reservoirs in the state. Although tenders have been finalised, work is yet to begin—raising anxiety among farmers as the summer advances.
Local farmers, including Ramesh and Vittal from Kadam mandal, stressed the urgency: “If desiltation is completed before the monsoon, the reservoir can be filled to capacity, ensuring a good Rabi crop. Otherwise, we’ll have to wait another year.”
Authorities plan to process the removed silt by separating it into commercial-grade sand and fertile soil, with the latter to be distributed to farmlands. A 100 acre site has been earmarked—20 acres for processing and 80 acres for storage.
While the price per tonne for desiltation has been fixed, actual work is yet to start.
Meanwhile, smaller irrigation systems such as the Sathnala, Mathadivagu, and Kumurambheem projects are also reporting rapidly falling water levels.
Many rivers and lakes in the region have already dried up, compounding the crisis.