The State government is confident of providing water to all the 37-lakh acre ayacut proposed under the prestigious Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation scheme in phases by 2021-22, Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao said.
More than 60 % of work on the three main barrages proposed under the project have been completed and the rest of the work was progressing at a brisk pace. “Three new barrages at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla together can hold 36 tmcft of water and this will enable water in 250 km stretch of the project all through the year,” he said.
Replying to a question during the Question Hour in the Legislative Assembly on Wednesday, he said the project was envisaged to provide new ayacut of 18.25 lakh acres and stabilise the ayacut in another 18.82 lakh acres taking the total to 37 lakh acres. He said the project received speedy clearances as the government had decided to redesign the project. The project was designed with storage capacity of online reservoirs estimated at 147 tmcft.
He said previous Congress governments at State and Centre neglected the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme and had not included the project as national project in the AP Reorganisation Act. Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao called on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and his Cabinet colleagues and requested them to declare Kaleshwaram as national project. But the Centre had not conceded the request so far.
