Retired High Court Judge Justice B. Chandra Kumar, Telangana Rythu Sankshema Samithi and Telangana Rashtra Praja Samithi demanded that the State government shelve the Mallannasagar project as it was ill-designed and that the latter was “hiding truth for something else”.
The reservoir would submerge 14 villages and displace thousands of families, resulting in they losing their livelihood, Justice Chandra Kumar and representatives of the two organisations said here on Friday.
Addressing a press conference, they alleged that the government was also neglecting the opinion of irrigation experts such as retired Engineer-in-Chief T. Hanumantha Rao.
Stating that there was no need for a reservoir for lift irrigation projects having water availability for 90 to 120 days in a year as suggested by Mr. Hanumantha Rao, Justice Chandra Kumar said there were several such projects across the world, including Jawaharlal Nehru canal in Haryana, that irrigated over 3.5 lakh acres without having any balancing reservoir.
He pointed out that Jurala project, the gateway of Krishna water for Telangana and Andhra Pradesh States, was designed with 11 tmc ft storage capacity and about 800 tmc ft would flow from it every year to Srisailam, Nagarjunasagar, Prakasam barrage, Telugu Ganga and several other projects.
“Till date, people don’t know where exactly the reservoir in the plain area will come and where its spillway is planned. It’s conceived hastily and unscientifically without any transparency and a detailed project report,” he noted.
R. Ramesh Reddy, P. Srinivas Reddy and others from the two organisations alleged that “there is a conspiracy behind conceiving Mallannasagar project in an area that resembles East Godavari and West Godavari districts. Once the Central Water Commission denies clearance to the project, the government would give away the land acquired for the project to contract farming by corporate companies”. The government was playing a dangerous game and would pay for it one day, they observed.
Quoting Mr. Hanumantha Rao, Justice Chandra Kumar said that the government could utilise 100 tmc ft water from Tummidihatti and the remaining quantity required for Pranahita-Chevella project from Medigadda and could do away with all the reservoirs planned for it.
The drinking water and industrial water needs could be met by planning reservoirs between hillocks, he felt.
