Mallannasagar: India’s biggest artificial reservoir

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao inaugurated the mammoth Mallanna Sagar reservoir, which was constructed as part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), and dedicated it to the nation on Wednesday. He performed a special puja at the reservoir before releasing the Godavari River water into Mallanna Sagar on the Tukkapur Surge Pool. Here […]

Hyderabad: Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao inaugurated the mammoth Mallanna Sagar reservoir, which was constructed as part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), and dedicated it to the nation on Wednesday. He performed a special puja at the reservoir before releasing the Godavari River water into Mallanna Sagar on the Tukkapur Surge Pool. Here is all about the project

Billed as the Mother of all reservoirs, Mallanna Sagar has a storage capacity of 50 TMCft and was constructed at the cost of Rs 6,805 cr between Thoguta and Kondapak in Siddipet district. The inauguration of the project also marked the completion of all the reservoirs on the main trunk of the KLIS. Mallannasagar, centrally located in Telangana, will cater to the irrigation needs and drinking water requirements of erstwhile Medak and its surrounding districts.

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Mallannasagar will be the second-largest storage reservoir in the Godavari River basin after Sriramsagar reservoir and is also being termed as the biggest artificial reservoir in India which will be filled entirely through other sources and not by the water received from its self-catchment area.

Multiple benefits

Besides fulfilling the drinking water needs of Hyderabad, Secunderabad and other surrounding districts, the Mallannasagar water will also be used for the state’s industrial needs.

The project will also provide irrigation water to 8.33 lakh acres of new ayacut and stabilize the area under existing irrigation projects such as Singur, Nizam Sagar, and Sriram Sagar phase-1, taking the total ayacut under the project to 15.71 lakh acres.

Capacity and operation

The storage capacity of the Mallanna Sagar reservoir is 50 TMC feet, out of which 30 TMC feet will cater drinking water needs of the entire Hyderabad. The other 16 TMC feet will cater to the industrial needs of the nearby areas.

The trial run for filling Mallannasagar had started on August 2021 and the reservoir was successfully filled with 10.50 TMC of water. Of the eight pumps each of 43 MW installed at the reservoir, six pumps have been successfully discharging 6,600 cusecs (0.66 TMC/day) into it.

Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme

* The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhupalpally, Telangana.

*The project starts at the confluence point of Pranahita River and Godavari River.

* Originally called Pranahita-Chevella project in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, it was redesigned, extended and renamed as Kaleshwaram project in Telangana in 2014.

Benefits of the project

* It would bring drinking water and irrigation to the backward areas of Telangana.
* It will also help to restore the groundwater level to its original state by the way of shifting from usage of groundwater for irrigation to usage of surface water.
* The project will also support Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha schemes designed to provide drinking water to many villages and improve the capacities of tanks.

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