HYDERABAD: Minister for Irrigation T. Harish Rao, through his reply in the Legislative Council, has effectively sealed the fate of the Firangi Nala the revival of which has been a strident demand from the environmentalists for quite some time.
Firangi Nala is a main source of water for the Ibrahimpatnam Peddacheruvu (tank) which has dried up over the years, due to encroachments on its route.
Replying to a question by member Patnam Narender Reddy during Question Hour, Mr. Harish Rao said revival of the nala by building a dam at Chandanvelli village will only deprive Himayatsagar reservoir of its inflows.
Tracing through the history of the Nala, since the time it was built in 1872 as part of the irrigation chain, Mr. Harish Rao said, the dam at Chandanvelli village where the Nala originated, breached during 1908 floods.
Suggestion by the legendary engineer Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya for construction of twin reservoirs to divert the flood waters, left the nala redundant, leading to encroachments since then, Mr. Harish Rao elaborated. The nala was declared defunct then itself, as amply demonstrated by the Survey of India topo sheets.
In the later years, the route of the nala has become urbanised and thickly populated, covered by areas such as Shamshabad, Saroornagar, and Ibrahimpatnam. Moreover, the ORR and the National Highways cut the nala at multiple locations, with no provision for vents. However, Mr. Harish Rao maintained, the Ibrahimpatnam Tank, which had been a rich source of irrigation for hundreds of acres of cultivation, received only 100 cusecs of water from Firangi Nala. Instead, revival of the other source, Eliminedu Stream, which brings more inflows, has been allotted ₹13.79 crore, and works for the same would be completed by June this year. Another proposal is to bring water from Dindi , by providing additional lifts, he said.
