The government is likely to revise the existing action plan to ensure early completion of irrigation projects based on the waters of the Godavari.
It is forced to take a fresh look at the action plan as a massive quantity of 1,802 tmcft of water has been let out into the sea from the river during the season so far from Dowleswaram anicut for want of storage facilities. This is four-and-a-half times of the full storage capacity of one of India’s largest dams, Nagarjunasagar (408 tmcft).
Completion of projects
Highly-placed sources say there is rethinking in the government over prioritised projects which may result in revision of the plan aiming at completion of Godavari-based projects on priority.
The outflow from Dowleswaram reached a peak of 10.3 lakh cusecs now in spite of maximum releases made into the anicut’s canal system serving Godavari delta (over 10 lakh acres).
While the possibility of impounding of the entire 1,802 tmcft is completely ruled out, a part of this would have been saved now, if some of the Jalayagnam projects had been completed. Under the Godavari Water Tribunal Award, AP had been allocated 1,480 tmcft out of the 3,000 tmcft estimated as annually available in the river and its basin on assured basis.
The utilisation out of this allocation, however, remains dismally at 690 tmcft under all the existing projects like Sriramsagar, Nizamsagar, Singur and Manjira. In contrast, the Krishna is over-exploited, with the entire allocation of 811 tmcft from this river being fully used.
Nearly a dozen projects were started in 2005 as part of Jalayagnam to use the allocation from the Godavari. But till date, none of these has been completed fully in spite of pumping in of huge sums into them. These projects included Sriramsagar Stage II, Sriramsagar Flood-Flow Canal, Yellampalli, Devadula, Dummagudem Rajvsagar lift, Indirasagar Rudramkota lift, Polavaram, Pranahita-Chevella, and Uttarandhdra Sujala Sravanthi (USS).
However, the barrage of Yellampalli and Phase I of Devadula are completed but they can’t be used now as other related works are incomplete.
At least a partial completion of Dummagudem-Nagarjunasagar Tailpond canal and Polavaram projects would have ensured by now diversion of large quantities of Godavari waters into the Krishna to serve various purposes.
