Narlapur pumps come to halt within hours of commencing operation, farmers concerned

Farmers expecting irrigation water from the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project suffered a setback after two pump motors at the Naralapur pump house stopped functioning within hours of being switched on. While officials reportedly attributed the shutdown to low voltage, the incident has raised questions over power preparedness and renewed concerns among farmers struggling to save standing crops.

Hyderabad: Farmers’ hopes of getting irrigation water from the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation project suffered a setback as two pump motors at the Naralapur pump house stopped operating within three hours of being switched on.

Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao and local legislators formally switched on the two pumps on Wednesday afternoon after a delay of about three hours from the scheduled time, raising hopes of water being lifted into the Naralapur reservoir. However, the pumps reportedly stopped at 5.50 pm, triggering concern among farmers already struggling to protect their standing crops.

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Farmers expressed disappointment over the brief operation, questioning whether the government was serious about ensuring sustained water supply or merely focused on formal ceremonies. 

While authorities did not officially clarify why the pumps stopped, they unofficially informed farmers that low voltage was disrupting the operation of the pumps, prompting officials to turn them off.

The incident has raised questions about whether adequate arrangements had been made to ensure uninterrupted power supply for operating the project’s massive pumps. Locals said the early shutdown had undermined their expectations of relief from the irrigation crisis. With crops facing the threat of withering, farmers demanded that officials explain the shutdown and resolve any technical or power-supply issues to resume operations.

The Palamuru-Rangareddy project was intended to provide irrigation security to drought-prone areas of southern Telangana. Its two pumps were switched on amid mounting demands for the government to expedite the project and address water shortages.