Experts question Telangana govt’s Tummidi Hatti barrage plan under PCSS

Irrigation experts have questioned the Telangana government’s push to revive the Tummidi Hatti barrage under the Pranahita-Chevella project. They cite topographical, engineering and environmental challenges, arguing that gravity flow is impractical and pumping stations, fresh surveys and CWC clearances are unavoidable.

Hyderabad: The Telangana government’s renewed push to construct a barrage at Tummidi Hatti as part of the Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi (PCSS) project has sparked skepticism among irrigation experts, who question its technical feasibility. They challenge the Congress government’s claims of a gravity-based water supply system.

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy reiterated the plan at the YS Rajasekhara Reddy Memorial Award event, but engineers and critics highlighted challenges including design complexities, environmental concerns and the need for substantial infrastructure investment.

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Originally proposed in 2007 by the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government, the PCSS project aimed to harness water from the Pranahita River to irrigate drought-prone areas in Telangana. The Tummidi Hatti barrage, initially estimated at Rs 609 crore (later revised to Rs 1,742 crore), was intended to divert water via a gravity canal to the Yellampalli reservoir.

Experts dismiss the claim that gravity flow alone can eliminate the need for electricity-intensive pumping, citing topographical and engineering constraints. The proposed barrage, spanning 56.4 kilometres with 3.7 kilometres of concrete construction and 100 to 110 gates, faces unprecedented design challenges.

Engineers note that the barrage would require a 45-degree skew angle due to geographical constraints, a design considered unsafe and untested in engineering practice.

Two pumping stations needed

Topographical challenges further undermine the gravity-flow claim. The Pranahita River at Tummidi Hatti and the Godavari at Yellampalli are at different elevations, necessitating two pumping stations to lift water 48 metres over a 116-km canal. At the 30-km mark, a pump house with 12 pumps of 30 MW capacity would lift water 29 metres through large-diameter pipes and tunnels.

A second station at 92 km would lift water an additional 19 metres. Even beyond Yellampalli, lifting would be required to irrigate higher-altitude areas like Karimnagar, Warangal and Chevella, relying on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme network of canal systems and reservoirs.

The Central Water Commission’s (CWC) 2015 assessment slashed water availability estimates at Tummidi Hatti to 165 TMC (including Maharashtra’s share), compared to 282.3 TMC at Medigadda, prompting critics to argue that Tummidi Hatti’s yield (as low as 44 TMC) will be insufficient for large-scale irrigation.

The 2016 Telangana-Maharashtra agreement capped the barrage’s full reservoir level at 148 metres with a 1.85 TMC storage capacity to minimise submergence in Maharashtra. However, any canal to Yellampalli would require renewed consent from Maharashtra, given the shared river.

Environmental concerns also loom large. The project’s original plan faced criticism for inadequate clearances, with risks of submerging Maharashtra’s forests and tribal villages. A revived project must address these issues to ensure minimal ecological disruption. The Chatral Wildlife Sanctuary in Maharashtra poses a major regulatory hurdle, as obtaining environmental clearance for submergence in forest would be difficult.

To resolve these uncertainties, experts say the State government must commission a new Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) survey and consult the CWC to validate water availability and canal feasibility. Without these steps, they warn, the Tummidi Hatti barrage risks becoming a costly mistake.