Kaleshwaram unlikely to provide water for next two crop seasons

The structural issues of Medigadda barrage have to be addressed in the next 120 days if the government is keen on providing water to farmers 

Hyderabad: The delay in National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) report is causing anxiety among farmers in the State as it could affect water availability for the ensuing agricultural seasons also.

According to officials, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme is unlikely to provide water for at least two more crop seasons. Farmers in the command area are likely to face the same scarcity condition in the command area of the project even in 2026. Medigadda barrage, being the primary source of water for the project, the structural issues with it have to be addressed in the next 120 days if the government is keen on putting it back to operation shortly. But such prospects look bleak.

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All the three barrages have been left non-operational for three crop seasons so far. The investigation into the construction and structural issues of the project barrages is facing delays. It has not yet reached a final conclusion in respect of its findings and recommendations to the State on the rehabilitation of the Medigadda barrage. Delays in the studies initiated for gathering geotechnical data has been a point of contention for the NDSA in the investigation.

The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme has a total of 104 pumping units across its 22 pumping stations. Almost all of them were kept overhauled and ready for lifting water before every crop season. Only the Gayatri underground pumping units were operated for giving water from Yellampalli reservoir for feeding the reservoirs integrated with the KLIS during the Kharif and Rabi this year.

The government decision on the fate of the barrages will depend on NDSA final recommendations. Implementation of works would require adequate time before the onset of monsoons in June. Once the barrages start receiving inflows, the department would not be able to implement any works till the end of October next. By all means, there would be no water from Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project for the next Rabi as well.

No repairs were made even to the Medigadda barrage road connecting Telangana and Maharashtra States. The road was also affected with the sagging of two pillars of the barrage. Local people are more bothered about the barrage road than water. The beneficiaries of the water lifted from Godavari have seldom seen the barrages. The KLIS water reaches key reservoirs far away from the project, otherwise, there would have been law and order issues at the barrages with farmers demanding the operations to be resumed, said officials.