Hyderabad: In the run-up to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s visit to Telangana on May 10, state ministers have asked Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders to bring the Tummidihetti Project to the PM’s attention so it can progress after negotiations with Maharashtra.
Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao said that the Centre’s help was needed to negotiate with the Maharashtra so that the Tummidihetti barrage could be constructed at a height of 150 metre, which he claimed, would not cause submergence in Maharashtra.
The Tummidihetti Project is a part of the Dr BR Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi Project, which was started in 2008 by the then Chief Minister YS Rajasekhara Reddy. With an estimated cost of Rs 38,500 crores, the project was greenlit to irrigate 16 lakh acres.
However, the project was later redesigned and renamed as the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project by former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao in 2019. The intake point for the project was also changed from Tummidihetti to Medigadda. Two piers of the Medigadda barrage sank, leaving the project dysfunctional since October 2023.
With its modifications, the total cost of the Kaleshwaram project had gone up to Rs 1.2 lakh crore.
Ministers Jupally Krishna Rao and Vivek Venkatswamy visited the Tummidihetti Project in Adilabad on Friday, May 8, to review its irrigation benefits, water storage capacity, ayacut area, land acquisition and other issues.
They said that proposals have been prepared for the construction of a canal spanning 106 km, and land acquisition has been completed for 71.5 km.
They accused the BRS of sidelining the project and squandering hundreds of crores in the name of the Kaleshwaram Project. “Instead of channelling the water through gravity as planned, lifting it with pumps has increased the estimated expenditure and added to the financial burden.” Minister Rao stated in a release.
“The people of Sirpur, Asifabad, Bellampalli, and Chennur constituencies, as well as farmers, have not benefited from the river waters at their doorstep, so Chief Minister Revanth Reddy has decided to revive this project that was originally undertaken by the Congress government.” the Minister added.
He said that the government is working with full determination to move this project forward and will soon hold discussions with Maharashtra.
The Tummidihetti barrage poses a submergence risk to the Maharashtrian territory, and the previous government had agreed to raise the project’s height of 148 metres to prevent this.
Minister Rao said that the government is also ready to provide compensation to farmers who lose their land in the project.
He said that since the pillars of the Medigadda barrage have collapsed, there is now no opportunity to utilise it. However, the Tummidihetti Project can provide irrigation and drinking water to the upland regions of Telangana, including Adilabad district, by drawing water to the Sripada Yellampalli Reservoir through gravity, reducing the overall project costs.
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