As the construction of barrages and pump-houses of Kaleshwaram project required for lifting the Godavari river water is expected to be completed by the end of this summer season, works for construction of sluices on canals be taken up so as to fill minor irrigation tanks in the flood season, Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao has directed the officials.
In a meeting held here on Saturday to review the progress of Kaleshwaram project works, he stated that all water bodies in the State including lakes, minor irrigation tanks, ponds, check-dams should brim with water to be supplemented from Kaleshwaram project in addition to rainwater and re-generated water. The check-dams constructed across streams and rivulets should also hold water to their capacity, he suggested. The meeting was attended by Chief Secretary S.K. Joshi, CMO secretary Smita Sabharwal, Engineers-in-Chief C. Muralidhar and B. Hariram, OSD Sridhar Rao Deshpande and several superintending and executive engineers of the project. The Chief Minister told the officials that the responsibility of the Irrigation Department would not end with construction of projects but the management of projects was also their shoulders.
Top priority
Stating that the Telangana government was giving top priority for providing irrigation facility to as much land as possible with several major lift irrigation projects, the Chief Minister said they had crossed several hurdles such as agreement with Maharashtra, getting clearances, acquiring forest and private lands to reach the present stage. He told the engineers to prepare plans to design water distribution systems for all major projects under construction including Kaleshwaram.
The Chief Minister enquired about the status of component-wise works including Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages, their pump-houses, other major reservoirs such as Ananthagiri, Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar, Gandhamalla, Baswapur and others, canals and tunnels.
