As part of its plans to create as much new irrigation potential as it can every year, the Telangana Government has decided to inaugurate Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project (AMRP) Low Level Canal (LLC) on November 9 to irrigate about 84,000 acres ayacut in six mandals of Nagarjunsagar and Miryalguda constituencies.
The project taken up with an estimated cost of about Rs.100 crore in 1994 has progressed at a snail’s pace till last year but they were given momentum by taking up of repairs on dilapidated portions of the 85-km long canal and by completing construction of three pump houses. Minister for Irrigation T. Harish Rao will inaugurate the pump houses to lift 150 cusecs water from the foreshores of Nagarjunasagar reservoir.
It will end the 22-year wait of farmers in the two constituencies in Nalgonda district by filling irrigation tanks en route and merging into Nagarjunasagar Project Left Canal. The government has spent Rs.260 crore on AMRP-LLC so far and another Rs.12 crore is yet to be spent, mostly on land acquisition.
According to officials, the LLC has two options to draw water — by gravity during the flood season and through lift during the non-flood season with the help of three pumps of 4 MW capacity each from the foreshores of Nagarjunasagar reservoir at Puttichelima thanda in Peddavoora mandal. However, only about 10,000 acres was being irrigated whenever the level (575 ft) in Nagarjunasagar reservoir permitted gravity flow into the canal and water did not reach that level since last year.
The project was initially planned to be completed by 1999 but was later extended to 2009 first and then to 2015. But, the delay in execution of works, particularly the pump houses and land acquisition, has made it a non-starter so far. Dry and wet run of the pumps was completed in September and October.
