The ongoing process of redesigning irrigation projects in Telangana, particularly the ones based on Godavari water, will soon decide the fate of northern parts of Ranga Reddy district, where it was proposed to irrigate about 2.47 lakh acres under Pranahita-Chevella lift scheme, whether the areas would get assured or surplus water.
The State government proposal to remove Ranga Reddy district from the purview of the Pranahita-Chevella project had led to a political controversy initially, with the Congress, TDP and BJP vehemently opposing the move. However, the opposition to the proposal did not sustain steam ones the government announced that it would take a final decision only after getting Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey report.
Now that the government has LiDAR report in its hands to redesign the projects based on scientific data, the issue is likely to gain momentum again once the proposal takes a concrete shape in the hands of Water and Power Consultancy Services (WAPCOS), the agency that has been given the task. Sources in the Irrigation Department stated that they were not in a position to come on record on the issue till the government announces changes in Pranahita-Chevella project design officially.
“The project designed by WAPCOS in 2008 has about 2.47 lakh acres irrigation facility in Chevella, Parigi and a few other areas of Ranga Reddy district, but the works in packages 17 to 19 and 23 to 26 were stopped for about six months now. The government has already made it clear more than once that getting water from Pranahita to Chevella area was very difficult and that is why it is being proposed to cover the area under Palamuru-Ranga Reddy project based on Krishna water,” a senior official of the Irrigation Department told The Hindu .
The crux of the issue, however, is not whether Ranga Reddy district gets water either from Godavari or Krishna, but its dependability. “Water from Godavari has 75 per cent dependability since not even half of the allocated assured water of about 950 tmcft is yet to be utilised by Telangana, but Palamuru-Ranga Reddy lift irrigation project is based on surplus waters of Krishna with no dependability,” former Engineer-in-Chief T. Hanumantha Rao pointed out.
Official sources, however, stated that there was also a proposal to link projects based on Godavari and Krishna, wherever possible, to overcome the issue of dependability in the long run.
