Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao on Thursday commissioned two more lifts of the three-stage Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy lift irrigation scheme to round off the 11-year-old project to irrigate 3.6 lakh acres in Mahabubnagar district.
Mr. Rao inaugurated lifts 2 and 3 at Jonnalaboguda where he addressed a meeting. He showered praise on Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao saying that the project would not have started but for the latter’s effort. The engineering officials had taken up a trial run of lift-3 at Gudipalli in the last four days.
The lift-1 at Elluru became operational in 2012 to irrigate 13,000 acres. Water from this lift was carried to lift-2 at Jonnalaboguda by gravity and thereafter to lift-3. The trial run of lift-2 was completed on August 29.
The project envisaged carrying Srisailam backwater by approach canal to lift-1 surge pool within a pump house and lifting water to a height of 95 mts by five motors of 30 MW capacity. The water is then pumped to Elluru reservoir and then to Srivarisamudram which is the takeoff point for lift-1 by an underground tunnel. The filter bed works on the banks of Elluru for supply of drinking water as part of Mission Bhagiratha in Kollapur Assembly segment were in progress. Works at Ellluru were launched by former Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy in September 2012 at an estimated cost of Rs. 495.2 crore. The works on lift-2 at Jonnalaboguda costing Rs. 649 crore were launched by former Irrigation Minister Ponnala Laxmaiah in December 2012.
The branch canal from Jonnalaboguda to Gudipalli runs for 120 km. Of the 3.6 lakh acres targeted under the project, lift-3 alone was designed to irrigate 2.7 lakh acres. But only one lakh acres would get water at present as some more works are still pending. Mr. Rao said the government pressurised irrigation officials to speed up works and thanked them for responding well.
Charge
Mr. Rao blamed the previous Congress and TDP government for lacking sincerity in completing the project though they laid foundation stones in 1970 and 1999 respectively. He said 30 per cent of works were still pending, but they will be completed in nine months.
