Hyderabad: Mallannasagar, described as ‘mother’ reservoir of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) and one of the critical components of the mega multi-stage project, is all set for inauguration by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Wednesday near Siddipet. The project was initially riddled with issues following court cases filed by vested interests to stall the […]
Hyderabad: Mallannasagar, described as ‘mother’ reservoir of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) and one of the critical components of the mega multi-stage project, is all set for inauguration by Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao on Wednesday near Siddipet.
The project was initially riddled with issues following court cases filed by vested interests to stall the construction, but the State government overcame all the hurdles to make the reservoir a reality.
Irrigation and Command Area Development (CAD) Department has made all arrangements for the magnificent inaugural event, which will be followed by Chief Minister addressing a public meeting.
Trial run for filling Mallannasagar started quite some time ago, on August 22, and the reservoir was successfully filled with 10.50 TMC of water. Of the eight pumps each of 43 MW installed at the 50 TMC reservoir, six pumps have been successfully discharging 6,600 cusecs (0.66 TMC/day) into it.
Mallannasagar, centrally located in Telangana, will cater to the irrigation needs and drinking water requirements of the entire State. With the construction of Mallannasagar, all the reservoirs on the main trunk of KLIS stand completed. These reservoirs will become growth engines for the rural economy of Telangana, a senior official told Telangana Today on Tuesday.
The KLIS was envisaged to meet irrigation requirements of 18.25 lakh acres of new ayacut and 27.75 lakh acres of stabilization of ayacut under various existing projects – Sriramsagar, Nizamsagar, Singur and Vanadurga and hundreds of medium irrigation tanks which fall under the KLIS limits. Apart from Irrigation, KLIS will also supply drinking water to villages en route besides Hyderabad and water for the industrial sector.
To meet this huge requirement of water, a mother reservoir with a huge storage capacity was essential. During deliberations on re-engineering of Pranahita Chevella project, this aspect was discussed at length and it was decided that Mallannasagar would be the mother reservoir for KLIS on account of its geographical advantage and water requirements to be met from Mallannasagar as well, the official said.
This will be the second biggest storage reservoir in Godavari basin after Sriramsagar reservoir. Irrigation experts said Mallannasagar was the biggest artificial reservoir in the country which will be filled entirely by lifting water from other sources and not by water received from its self-catchment area.
There were lots of criticism and hue and cry from engineers and non-engineers over the enhancement of storage capacity at Mallannasagar to 50 TMC from 1.5 TMC during reengineering of the design “without going into details of irrigation and other requirements under it apart from technical aspects as well.’
Hundreds of cases were filed in High Court and National Green Tribunal (NGT) against KLIS and its component Mallannasagar in a bid to halt the construction works. Again, with the political will of the Chief Minister, all hurdles were overcome one by one and the project is set to become a reality with 50 TMC storage capacity.
Geographically, Mallannasagar is located at higher elevation and at a ridge point which separates Godavari and Krishna basins. About 62 per cent of Kaleshwaram ayacut falls within the limits of Mallannasagar reservoir apart from the drinking water needs of Hyderabad and stabilization of ayacut under Nizamsagar, Singur and Vanadurga projects.
Extensive studies were conducted for pump requirements and utilisations under Mallannasagar before deciding on the storage capacity. It is pertinent to note that Central Water Commission (CWC) had communicated in July 2008 on the Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Pranahita Chevella Lift Irrigation Scheme (PCLIS) stating that the project did not have adequate storage capacity for the envisaged lifting of 160 TMC from Pranahita.
The erstwhile AP government had taken up works of PCLIS without going for enhancement of storage capacities of reservoirs as suggested by the CWC and expert committee. During the discussions on reengineering of the project, all these aspects were taken into consideration, which were ignored by successive government in undivided AP and a decision was taken to enhance the capacity of Mallannasagar to 50 TMC for the project to be effective on all fronts.
Requirements under Mallannasagar
As Mallannasagar is at higher elevation having FRL at 557 m, water from this source will flow on all sides. Water is supplied to Baswapur reservoir (11.39 TMC) and Gandhamalla reservoir (9.87 TMC) by gravity in Yadadri Bhongir district for an ayacut of 2.50 lakh acres.
Water will be supplied to Kondapochamma Sagar (15 TMC) reservoir through two stage lifts that are at heights of 618 m above MSL. From there, the water will be supplied to the ayacut of about 2.85 lakh acres in Medchal, Sangareddy, Medak and Siddipet and drinking water to Hyderabad by gravity.
Water will be supplied from Mallannasagar to Nizamasagar through Haldivagu for stabilization of Nizamsagar ayacut of 2.33 lakh acres and by small lift to Singur for stabilization of ayacut of 40,000 acres under Singur and 25,000 acres under Vanadurga projects. Only a big reservoir like Mallannasagar can cater to the needs of all the irrigation projects and drinking water requirements. About 100 TMC needs to be pumped from Mid Manair reservoir to Mallannasagar and at least half of the pumped water needs to be stored. This is the reason for maintaining the capacity at Mallannasagar at 50 TMC.
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