Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao instructed the Irrigation Department officials to keep the canals under SRSP and other projects ready to supply Godavari water to the entire 40 lakh acre ayacut.
“Projects are being constructed in Telangana State based on its share of water in the Godavari and there is possibility of utilising water from Kaleswaram project from the next year. It will be a sin if farmers are not given water for irrigation despite adequate water availability and funds,” he said.
Addressing a review meeting on optimum utilisation of SRSP at Pragati Bhavan here on Monday, Mr. Chandrasekhar Rao wanted the canals in the 346-km stretch from SRSP to Nadigudem to be ready for the flow of 8,500 cusecs from the existing 6,000 cusecs. Water should be supplied for two crops in 16 lakh acres under SRSP and 8.5 lakh acres under LMD and all the tanks under these projects should be filled up, he said. He wanted the officials concerned to study the viability of turning the tanks in Palakurthi, Station Ghanpur, Dornakal and Tungaturthy constituencies into reservoirs and prepare estimates within 10 days. Then tenders should be invited within 45 days to start the works by October and complete by next summer. The work should be divided into packages for early completion, he added.
In united Andhra Pradesh, water was never given at optimum level under the SRSP though on paper it was shown as given. Water never reached the final ayacut and farmers had suffered. Under united AP, 950 tmc of water was available but it was not utilised. Now, with projects under construction in Telangana, the State would be utilising 500 to 600 tmc of water to irrigate 40 lakh acres, 16 lakh under SRSP and 24 lakh through other projects. Telangana farmers should not look at the sky as water for two crops would come from canals, he asserted.
Mr. Rao said water would be lifted from Medigadda from next June and from there, the water would reach Mid-Manair and SRSP and from there to Old Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda districts.
The canal works should be completed before Kaleswaram got water by end of the next summer. He said the government was spending ₹ 35,000 crore a year on irrigation for the first time in the country and MLAs and Ministers should take up field visits without confining themselves to review meetings and own up the responsibility to ensure that farmers in their region got water.
