KCR to inaugurate ₹35k-cr irrigation project on Krishna on Sept 16
Telangana agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy said the project would make one million acres of parched lands in erstwhile combined Mahabubnagar district into fertile lands
After Kaleshwaram, one of the largest lift irrigation projects of the world built on river Godavari at a cost of nearly ₹1 lakh crore in Telangana’s Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, the state government is all set to commence Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS) built on the Krishna at a cost of ₹35,000 crore in Nagarkurnool district.
Telangana chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao will formally inaugurate the project by switching on the motor at the first pump house to lift water from the river into the intake well of the project at Narlapur village of Kollapur block on September 16.
Describing the completion of Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme is the biggest achievement of the century for the drought-prone Mahabubnagar and Rangareddy districts, state agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy said in a statement that the government had taken up the project with its own financial resources without expecting any money from the Centre, after overcoming several hurdles in the last nine years.
He said the chief minister would address a big public rally at Narlapur, after dedicating the project to the nation. “The project will transform the fate of southern Telangana in the coming days,” the minister said.
Reddy said the project would make one million acres of parched lands in erstwhile combined Mahabubnagar district and 250,000 acres in Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts into fertile lands. “It is a historic occasion to complete the project, which was neglected in the combined Andhra Pradesh regime,” the minister said.
An official release from the chief minister’s office on Thursday said KCR had called for celebrations in every village in the erstwhile combined Mahbubnagar and Rangareddy districts on September 17. “Let us perform special prayers at the Krishna river and wash the feet of deities in the temples in every village under the project,” he said.
The chief minister said some forces had created many hurdles in completing the PRLIS by moving the National Green Tribunal and other courts. But the government had overcome all the hurdles and completed the lift scheme after obtaining the environmental clearances.
The officials explained to the chief minister that as many as eight “Bahubali” motors, each of 145 MW capacity, were erected in the lift irrigation scheme for drawing 90 tmc of water in a span of 60 days. “The weight of each bolt of the pumps is about 12 kg and its router weights 80 tons,” the CMO official release, quoting the officials, said.
The PRLIS envisages lifting water from the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir at Yellure village of Kollapur block in Nagarkurnool district to the K P Laxmidevipally reservoir of Kondurg block in Rangareddy district with 5 stage lifting and then utilizing water by gravity.
It proposes to irrigate around 12 lakh acres in Mahabubnagar, Narayanpet, Rangareddy, Vikarabad, Nagarkurnool and Nalgonda, besides providing drinking water to en route villages and Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation and also for industrial use.
The foundation stone for the PRLIS was laid by the chief minister on June 11. The project was planned to be executed in two phases. Under Phase – I, drinking water will be provided to 1226 villages in 70 mandals (blocks), while Phase – II is planned for addressing irrigation requirements in drought-prone districts.
As part of Phase I, six balancing reservoirs, including Anjanagiri (Narlapur), Veeranjaneya (Yedula), Venkatadri (Vattem), Kurumurthyraya (Karivena), Udandapur and KP Lakshmidevipally were constructed. This also involves construction of five stages of lifting of 90 tmc during the flood season from the foreshore of Srisailam reservoir on River Krishna.
From Anjanagiri reservoir, water will be lifted to Veeranjaneya reservoir, Venkatadri reservoir, Kurumurthraya Reservoir, Udandapur Reservoir and finally into KP Lakshmidevipally reservoir from where it would be released into the canals through gravity.
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