Project at Tammidihatti would have yielded only 52 TMC, hence its relocation: V Prakash Rao

Deposing before the Judicial Commission headed by Justice P C Ghose probing into the construction issues of the Kaleshwaram Irrigation project, he explained that the availability of water in Godavari at Tammidihatti would be far less than the water yield expected from the original design of the Kaleshwaram Project.

Hyderabad: Twin factors led to the redesigning and relocation of the Kaleshwaram Project from Tammidihatti to Medigadda, said V Prakash Rao, Irrigation expert and former Chairman of Telangana water Resources Development Corporation.

Deposing before the Judicial Commission headed by Justice P C Ghose probing into the construction issues of the Kaleshwaram Irrigation project, he explained that the availability of water in Godavari at Tammidihatti would be far less than the water yield expected from the original design of the Kaleshwaram Project.

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It also involved serious submergence issues,he stressed. As a way out, the project was redesigned with a genuine intention to quench the thirst of the people and extend irrigation to the parched lands in the water-starved State. Even as the availability of water at Tammidihatti was put at 165 TMC, it included 65 TMC of unutilised share of the riparian states in the upper reaches.

The net availability of the assured waters where the project was proposed initially would be only 102 TMCs. As the construction of the project at Tammidihatti posed the threat of large scale inundation and displacement to which the riparian states had opposed strongly.

Maharashtra had agreed to allow the construction of the project with its FRL at 148 ft insteadof 154 ft. In the event of constructing the dam lowering the FRL to 148 ft, the state would be able to utilise only 52 TMC of the total availability. The project was shifted to Medigadda to ensure a more reliable water availability and better storage facility, he added. The relocation of the proposed project was preferred as it would minimise displacement and avoid submergence of reserve forest.

It would have been an uphill task to obtain environmental clearance if the project was constructed at Tammidihatti if the impact on the forests area was taken into consideration. Both Maharashtra and Karnataka states had built more than 300 dams and projects in the catchment area of Godavari thus impacting on its overall water yields from the upper reaches. He said he would be furnishing the commission with evidence in support of his arguments on August 26.