Medigadda Barrage stands tall, punches holes in Congress narrative

Even as the latest round of heavy rains continue to disrupt normal life in the State, the Medigadda Barrage, has demonstrated remarkable resilience, dispelling concerns about its structural integrity

Hyderabad: They did everything possible to malign it. From misleading statements that ridiculously dubbed expansion joints as cracks, to saying that the entire barrage had collapsed, the Congress even said that the entire project was a mammoth mistake and that it was a big liability for Telangana. But the Medigadda (Lakshmi) Barrage is now having the last laugh, having proved that the entire election campaign of the Congress that focused on Kaleshwaram was, in fact, a bigger sham.

Even as the latest round of heavy rains continue to disrupt normal life in the State, the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, particularly its key component, the Medigadda Barrage, has demonstrated remarkable resilience, dispelling concerns about its structural integrity. Despite intense scrutiny and scepticism, the barrage has successfully managed significant water flows, proving its robustness.

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In fact, the Medigadda Barrage discharged a record peak flood of nearly 12 lakh cusecs last month. As of Wednesday, the inflows and outflows at the barrage stand at 8.05 lakh cusecs, with more than half of this volume contributed by the Pranahita River, a major tributary of the Godavari. This consistent inflow is attributed to the extensive catchment area of Pranahita, which spans over 109,100 square kilometres, significantly larger than the combined catchment area of the main Godavari and its minor tributaries, which cover 75,600 square km.

The strategic location of the Medigadda barrage was chosen due to the high water yield potential of the Pranahita river. Since the first week of July this year, the barrage has been experiencing steady inflows, even as other upstream dams are yet to receive significant water.

Following the sagging of two piers in October 2023, multiple agencies, including the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), were engaged to conduct thorough studies. The NDSA experts have been regularly visiting the project site since March this year. The NDSA too has been a witness to the successful handling of high water volumes by the Medigadda barrage, which underscores the effectiveness of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme and its critical role in making use of Godavari water for the benefit of the water starved regions in the State.

The structural issues, particularly with the twin pillars in Block 7, were blown out of proportions. Though the State’s irrigation machinery, experienced in handling such structural challenges, was confident of making the barrage functional before the monsoons, the Congress government apparently had other ideas.

During a stock-taking mission, the government subjected irrigation officials to scrutiny but still did not take responsibility for rehabilitating the impacted pillars. This paved the way for the NDSA to step in.

Six months into the NDSA’s investigation, no concrete rehabilitation proposals have emerged. The interim report facilitated only temporary repairs in May, just a month before the monsoons. Critics argue that the reports on the barrage’s structural issues are exaggerated and politically motivated.

To support their contention, water from the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages was drained in March on the pretext of facilitating end-to-end studies, depriving the ayacut of the Rabi crop. The impact of this totally uncalled for move is still there, with uncertainty looming large over even the Vanakalam (Kharif) crop due to truncated operations.

The multi-stage lift irrigation project’s operations have been severely impacted in the absence of water drawls and reverse pumping operations starting from Medigadda. Irrigation authorities had hoped to resume pumping operations at the Kannepalli pump house drawing water from Medigadda once the inflows reached 30,000 cusecs or 35000 cusecs providing the desired storage cushion.

However, more than 2,000 TMCs of Godavari waters have flowed down the Sammakka Sagar barrage, with nearly three-fourths originating from Medigadda, so far but not a drop has been drawn so far from the barrage, with the Congress government claiming that the NDSA was yet to signal the go ahead for resuming operations from Medigadda.