Though Kadem reservoir, now in Nirmal district, receives a marvellous 2.5 lakh cusecs calculated as the maximum flood discharge, much of its vast catchment area of 2,590 sq km spread over western Adilabad district continues to face water shortage during summer season.
While the medium irrigation dam constitutes harnessing of the enormous quantities of run off water, successive governments have failed to realise the importance of harvesting water at local level which has high chances of success besides being advantageous in many other ways.
In the districts of Adilabad, Kumram Bheem Asifabad, Mancherial and Nirmal, once unified Adilabad, all medium irrigation projects are designed on Kadem run off calculations which means that there is a huge quantum of water available in other parts also.
These districts also have typical undulating terrain which makes harnessing of water quite a simple and money saving exercise.
The numerous gullies and smaller valleys scattered all over can be plugged to form minor irrigation water bodies which will help develop smaller ayacuts but keep the groundwater recharged and do away with drinking water problems of given places. The comparative expenditure would be only in a few lakh of rupees for each of the minor tanks.
“There would be less of environmental destruction owing to smaller structures. Land required for such structures will be on a much reduced scale thereby eliminating the issues inherent to land acquisition for projects, observed an irrigation engineer, not wanting to be quoted, as he pointed out the benefits of minor irrigation tanks and watersheds.
Many postives
Among other positives in favour of smaller tanks is the period taken for benefits to reach people. While bigger projects can consume even 15 years for construction, water is available in minor tanks from the second year itself.
The present government has taken up the Mission Kakatiya programme to revive old minor irrigation tanks and restore ayacuts. However, it has ignored proposals for construction of new MI tanks in these districts apparently because it is concentrating on larger projects.
“In Adilabad district alone, proposals for construction of over 50 MI tanks with an ayacut of about 10,000 acres are gathering dust,” the engineering official lamented. “These tanks can bring great changes in the lifestyle of local population,” he added.
The Pradhan Mantri Sinchai Yojana also remains a non starter in Adilabad thanks to the government being busy with the major projects. There is hardly any allocation from the Central government under this scheme.
