HYDERABAD: Announcing a time-bound roadmap to rehabilitate the damaged Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) on Saturday, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy said the state government aims to complete the repairs before the 2027 monsoon, subject to technical clearances and implementation progress. He criticised the BRS regime, saying that its decision to abandon the original Pranahita-Chevella irrigation project in favour of Medigadda was a “historic blunder”.
Uttam stated that a broad timeline has been drawn up, with concept designs completed by the end of September, while estimates and government approvals are targeted for October-end. Agencies are expected to be mobilised by the end of November, and work is scheduled to commence on all fronts by December-end.
The broad designs propose extending the stilling basins to 66 metres at Medigadda and Annaram and 58 metres at Sundilla. The existing lengths are 46.8 metres at Medigadda, 45 metres at Annaram and 30 metres at Sundilla. The department is also planning an integrated instrumentation and monitoring system to track seepage, uplift pressures and structural behaviour during and after rehabilitation.
Uttam said the state government has engaged national and international experts to oversee the rehabilitation process, with technical assessments, design approvals and execution milestones forming part of the programme.
Govt ropes in CWPRS for design formulation
As part of this effort, the government has engaged the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) for investigations and M/s AFRY, in association with IIT Bombay, for design formulation. A coordination committee comprising technical experts and senior officials from the Irrigation and CAD department, the Central Designs Organisation and the State Dam Safety Organisation has also been constituted to coordinate the programme in line with recommendations of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA).
The Technical Oversight Committee (TOC), constituted by the Ministry of Jal Shakti on June 30, 2026, reviewed the rehabilitation strategy at meetings held on July 31 and October 14 in New Delhi. The Irrigation minister noted that the rehabilitation designs and additional works would undergo technical scrutiny by the TOC and the Central Water Commission (CWC).
Uttam opined that Telangana would have been better equipped to withstand the prevailing El Nino-induced drought conditions had the original Pranahita-Chevella project been completed without modifications. He alleged that the diversion from the original design was driven by considerations other than the long-term interests of farmers.
The minister claimed that a project originally envisaged at a cost of around Rs 38,000 crore had eventually contributed to an enormous financial burden on the state without delivering the promised irrigation benefits.
He also criticised the BRS government for failing to complete several other irrigation projects, including the SLBC tunnel, Devadula and Sitarama projects, despite incurring substantial expenditure.
Uttam said Telangana had recorded the highest agricultural acreage, the highest utilisation of river waters and the highest paddy production in the Krishna and Godavari basins, asserting that the state’s irrigation achievements should be assessed on the basis of facts and ground realities rather than political rhetoric.
