The Hindu : Front Page : Trial run of Devadula I successful

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Sunday, Jan 20, 2008
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Trial run of Devadula I successful

M. Malleswara Rao

Project is viewed as an answer to the predicament of Telangana

Amazing feat: An open conduit of Devadula project at Pulkurthy

HYDERABAD: Engineers working on the Devadula project have successfully performed a full-fledged trial run involving lifting the Godavari water to a massive height of 609 feet using heavy duty pumps.

This feat was performed in the remote hamlet of Gangaram in Warangal district recently. Water was first lifted from the river through the intake structure and pumped to Dharmasagar that lies 110 km away and 609 ft above the river bed. Two more pump-houses at Bhimghanpur and Nagaram en route helped in pushing the water up the incline.

Efforts are on now to synchronise the operation of the pumps and motors at the three pump-houses and fine-tune the pipeline system from Gangaram to Dharamasagar. The first phase of Devadula, which is considered one of Asia’s biggest lift irrigation projects in terms of the distance and height covered, is now ready to serve hitherto dry areas in Warangal.

A senior official told this correspondent that water from the Godavari could be released anytime now to serve the contemplated ayacut of 1.23 lakh acres or fill the summer storage tanks en route.

Release of water for the crops has, however, been deferred till the kharif as the hard soil needs heavy wetting before being ready for cultivation for the first time.

The Devadula project was viewed by the previous and the present Government as an answer to the predicament of Telangana where lands lie fallow while the Godavari flows bountifully.

As the lands are located on an elevation of 500-1,000 feet above the river bed, lifting water was seen as the only answer.

The then Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu laid the stone for Devadula in 2003 while the Rajasekhara Reddy Government provided hefty budgetary allocations since the last four years.

Phase II

Water will be lifted from Dharmasagar to a further height of about 1,000 ft under Phase II to serve another 2.85 lakh acres in Nalgonda and Karimnagar districts. So far, an amount of Rs 2,300 crore has been spent on Devadula which will ultimately utilise 50 tmcft of water.

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