‘New reservoirs ensured irrigation to all farm lands in Telangana’

Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said the State government embarked upon constructing major and medium irrigation projects with the objective of creating irrigation facility for one crore acre of land.

Hyderabad: Telangana government has taken up construction of reservoirs with a total capacity of 342.21 tmc after the State formation. Besides completing all the pending and partially completed projects, the State government focused on redesigning and re-engineering these projects to improve the storage capacity, and also supply irrigation water to all the farm lands in the State.

In the address to the joint session of the State Legislature here on Monday, Governor Tamilisai Soundararajan said the State government embarked upon constructing major and medium irrigation projects with the objective of creating irrigation facility for one crore acre of land. She recalled that in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, the rulers made no effort to divert the river water to agriculture lands in Telangana region and the entire farm sector in the region suffered severely due to lack of water.

---

She listed out numerous irrigation projects like Kalwakurthy, Nettempadu, Bhima, Koil Sagar, Devadula, Mid Manair, Yellampally, Singur and other projects works which were completed on fast track.

Due to the completion of the pending projects, about 20 lakh acres are getting irrigation water in the State and migration has decreased in the State with people returning to cultivation in their native areas. Majority of the projects taken up in the undivided Andhra Pradesh were redesigned to suit the needs of Telangana State. Inter-State disputes were solved amicably and the projects were completed on a war footing. Kaleshwaram, Palamuru-Rangareddy, Dindi, Sitarama Lift Irrigation project are all on the verge of completion. The storage capacity of these reservoirs as a part of the projects on Godavari River was increased from 11.43 tmc to a total 227.77 tmc. Similarly, the storage capacity of the reservoirs for the projects taken up on Krishna River under Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and other projects was increased up to 91.52 tmc. The storage capacity of reservoirs under Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme was also increased up to 22.92 tmc.

Mission Bhagiratha

Mission Bhagiratha scheme completely put an end to the drinking water problem faced by the people for decades. The scheme has become a model for the entire country to follow and emulate. The Central Jal Sakti Mission has recently declared that Telangana State is the one and only State in the country which is providing safe and pure drinking water to all the households, schools and Anganwadi centres through pipes. As against 5,672 habitations in 2014, about 57.26 lakh households in around 24,543 habitations are now receiving drinking water through tap connections.

The State government had spent about Rs 32,500 crore between 2014 and 2020 for the drinking water schemes to permanently solve the drinking water problem in the State. “With Mission Bhagiratha scheme, the fluoride problem has been totally eradicated in the State. The department of Drinking Water and Sanitation of the Central government declared Telangana as a fluoride-free State,” the Governor said.

Mission Kakatiya

The State government has taken up revival of ancient tanks and also construction of new tanks in the State which has improved the groundwater levels across the State. Under Mission Kakatiya, the State government revived and rejuvenated about 45,000 tanks which in turn improved the groundwater levels in the State. With the revival of tanks, the fishing activity also began on a high note and fishermen have been earning good profits.