Incredible turnaround of water bodies in Telangana

In a problem of plenty, farmers under Nizamsagar urge officials not to release water for Vaanakalam crops

Hyderabad: In an unbelievable trend reversal, farmers under the ayacut of the usually dry Nizamsagar project in Kamareddy district have urged irrigation officials not to release water into the canal for irrigation of Vaanakalam crops, literally citing the problem of plenty. The pleasant development comes even as water bodies across Telangana including major reservoirs and village tanks received heavy inflows following incessant rains this week.

Nizamsagar, the oldest dam in Telangana, had received 1.5 tmc Godavari water from Kondapochamma Sagar, a part of the mega Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), in May to meet irrigation requirements of farmers to commence Vaanakalam agriculture operations.

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Officials had started releasing water to the canal for distribution through its 49 distributaries for the first wetting of crops. The farmers, however, urged officials not to release water as they had already met the requirement and did not want the water to go waste.

Kamareddy District Chief Engineer, Irrigation, T Srinivas told ‘Telangana Today’ that the dam, which is receiving inflows of 2,000 cusecs every day, would reach its Full Reservoir Level (FRL) in a month if the same situation continues. Against the total capacity of 17.8 tmc, the dam now has 6.7 tmc, a rarity at this juncture of the agriculture season.

Dr Sharat Chandra Mukpalkar, who practices at Kotgir in Nizamabad district and has agriculture lands under the Nizamsagar ayacut, attributes the change to several factors, including the rapid strides made in the irrigation sector and Mission Kakatiya. “In the past, we had rarely come across Nizamsagar having water in June or July. Water release does not take place till July-end, and more often than not, it used to be in August or September,” he said, pointing out that besides Godavari water reaching the project, Mission Kakatiya too was a major success. “The rejuvenated village tanks are always brimming with water following desiltation and impounding of water whenever the opportunity arises,” he added.

Meanwhile, all the components of the KLIS, including the Sripada Yellampally project, Mid-Manair Dam (MMD) and Lower-Manair Dam (LMD) in north Telangana were receiving heavy inflows and are filled to capacity. The 24-tmc LMD has already touched 21 tmc while the 27-tmc MMD has 23 tmc.

The Jurala project on the Krishna river, however, was receiving inflows of only 14,500 cusecs, V Raghunatha Rao, Chief Engineer, Projects, Mahabubnagar, said.

At Jukkal in Kamareddy district, officials are planning to open the gates of the Koulasnala project on Thursday should it get additional inflows. Currently, it is now receiving 1,500 cusecs daily. The Sriramsagar project too is receiving heavy inflows from upstream in Maharashtra. It now has 63.5 tmc against its total capacity of 90 tmc, said K Sudhakar Reddy, Chief Engineer, Irrigation, Jagitial. “If Sriramsagar continues to get the same amount of inflows, then it will be filled to the brim by the first week of August,” he said, adding that inflows might increase significantly from Friday night.

In Nirmal, the officials closed nine gates of the Kadem project after opening them partially on Wednesday. On Tuesday, 24 of the 85 gates at Lakshmi barrage were opened to let 74,000 cusecs downstream. Officials lifted gates following heavy inflows into the barrage from Maharashtra along with inflows from the Pranahitha, a tributary of the Godavari.

Also Read:

Rains pound Telangana, fill water bodies

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