Enhance canal capacity to ensure free flow of water: Agri Minister to officials

Officials were also asked to take up pending works of the Buddharam canal, take up repair works of KLI pumps and also complete the viaduct at Shapur in Khilla Ghanpur mandal of Wanaparthy district.

Hyderabad: Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy instructed the Irrigation department officials to enhance the capacity of D5, D8 and Paspula branch canals to cater to the increasing needs of ayacut under the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLI). Officials were also asked to take up pending works of the Buddharam canal, take up repair works of KLI pumps and also complete the viaduct at Shapur in Khilla Ghanpur mandal of Wanaparthy district.

In the wake of Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s approval to supply water from the Vattem reservoir under the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme to the additional ayacut under KLI, the Minister held a review meeting with the elected representatives and officials from erstwhile Mahabubnagar district at his residence here on Sunday.

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During the meeting, Niranjan Reddy said the KLI was proposed by the previous governments to cater to the needs of only 2.5 lakh acres including 1.8 lakh acres under its main canal whereas the total ayacut under the project has been increased to 5 lakh acre now. “Though we have adequate pumps to lift the water, the canals will not be able to carry a huge quantity of water for irrigation purposes. Hence, it was proposed to initially lift the water from Kalwakurthy main canal to Vattem reservoir and thereafter supply water to other parts of the ayacut,” he said.
Accordingly, the Minister also suggested the officials to expand the bund of the Ganapasamudram tank to increase its water storage capacity. He also directed them to fill all the tanks under the purview of KLI.

MP P Ramulu, MLAs Guvvala Balaraju, Ala Venkateshwar Reddy, Jaipal Yadav, Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy, MLCs K Damodar Reddy, Kasireddy Narayana Reddy and officials of the Irrigation department were present.