Decision on alternative proposal for Pranahita-Chevella project in Sept.

May 19, 2015 12:00 am | Updated November 16, 2021 05:05 pm IST - HYDERABAD:

The proposal of Telangana Government to shift the main barrage site of Pranahita-Chevella lift irrigation project from Tummidihatti in Adilabad district to an alternative location is expected to be finalised in September.

“Shifting of the barrage site has been necessitated not just due to Maharashtra’s opposition on account of large extent (about 5,247 acres) of its land submergence but also because of the Central Water Commission’s (CWC) revised report on the availability of water in Pranahita river at Tummidihatti,” said Irrigation Advisor to the State Government, R. Vidyasagar Rao.

Revised report

In the past, the CWC had calculated water availability at Tummidihatti as 273 TMC ft and approved utilisation of 160 TMC ft Godavari basin water for Pranahita-Chevella project. However, in its revised report recently, the CWC reduced the water availability only as 165 TMC ft and that it would allow utilising not more than 140 TMC ft even if the barrage full reservoir level (FRL) is 152 meters, the Irrigation Advisor said on Monday. Though Maharashtra Government has no objection to the utilisation of 160 TMC ft Godavari water to Pranahita-Chevella, it is strongly opposing the barrage height on the grounds of its land submergence. In a recent meeting with Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao, his Maharashtra counterpart made it unequivocally clear that they would not accept submergence of large area. Based on the CWC suggestion, the State Government has recently decided to increase the capacity of Tadakapalli and Pamulaparthi reservoirs, both components of the Pranahita-Chevella project, to 30 TMC ft and 21 TMC ft respectively, against their original design for storage of just 1.5 TMC ft and 1 TMC ft. The CWC had pointed out that the storage capacity of seven reservoirs of the project, including the barrage, was only 14.7 TMC ft.

The Water and Power Consultancy Services (India) Ltd – WAPCOS – has been accorded the task of preparing a detailed project report with the alternative proposal and it is likely to submit the report by August-end.

Reducing barrage height

The alternative proposal includes reducing the barrage height at Tummidihatti by two meters and constructing the main barrage at Medigadda village in Karimnagar district, 20 km below Kaleshwaram where the Pranahita confluences with the Godavari.

Mr. Vidyasagar Rao set aside fears that Adilabad and Nizamabad districts would be excluded from the revised plans of the project. He stated that there would be no change in creating the irrigation potential of 56,500 acres in Adilabad out of the total propose ayacut of 16.4 lakh acres.

Shifting of the barrage site has been necessitated not just due to Maharashtra’s opposition on account of large extent of its land submergence but also because of the CWC revised report

R. Vidyasagar Rao,

Irrigation Advisor.

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