The river course of Godavari between Yellampally and Kaleshwaram in Peddapalli and Jayashankar-Bhupalapalli districts, which is most often seen dry even during the monsoon season when there is no flood, has become rejuvenated now with the storage of water in Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.
Water being pumped back from Medigadda to Sundilla through Kannepally and Kasipeta pump houses has already spread over 76 km of the river course upstream. “The stretch of the river course wearing dry look has become a regular phenomenon during the last couple of decades, particularly after the construction of a series of barrages across the river and its tributaries by Maharashtra,” a senior irrigation engineer explained.
The flood generated in the local catchment areas is also held in Singur, Nizamsagar, Kaddam and Sriramsagar projects and Yellampally barrage not allowing it to reach the river course between Yellampally and Kaleshwaram, the engineer said adding that Godavari would have flows either only after Pranahitha confluences with it at Kaleshwaram or when there is heavy flood from the local catchment areas or from the upstream Maharashtra.“The water is spread along 27 km of the river course due to storage in Medigadda and it is spread for another 28 km and 21 km with the help of storage in Annaram and Sundilla barrages, respectively, till Thursday evening,” Engineer-in-Chief of Kaleshwaram N. Venkateshwarlu stated.
Full reservoir level
The water spread area due to storage in the three barrages at full reservoir level would be more than 108 km in the river course and clubbed with the water spread area of Yellampally at FRL would be over 150 km in Godavari, he explained.
Meanwhile, pumping of water from Meddigadda barrage to Annaram through Kannepally pump house and from Annaram barrage to Sundilla through Kasipeta barrage is continuing with six and three motors, respectively. The quantity of water being pumped is about 13,200 cusecs and 9,000 cusecs from Kennepally and Kasipeta pump houses, respectively.
Rising water
According to the project engineers, the water storage in Medigadda stood at 5.65 tmc ft (95.7 meters) followed by 7.68 tmc ft (117.55 m) in Annaram and 1.68 tmc ft (122.9 m) in Sundilla barrages on Thursday evening. Pumping from Sundilla to Yellampally barrage is likely to be taken up when the water level reaches about 127 meters or the storage reaches about 5.5 tmc ft in Sundilla.
