Revanth plans additional water supply for Dindi, Achampet projects

Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has directed officials to plan additional water supplies for the Dindi and Achampet irrigation schemes without affecting Palamuru project allocations. He also ordered preparations for talks with Maharashtra on the proposed Tummidihatti barrage.

Hyderabad: Despite objections from Congress MLAs in the Palamuru region, Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has directed officials to arrange the diversion of 0.5 TMC of water from Yedula reservoir to the Dindi project and 0.1 TMC to the Achampet Lift Irrigation Scheme.

On Thursday, Congress MLAs and elected public representatives from the erstwhile Palamuru region met Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy. They demanded that works to draw water from Yedula reservoir under the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation (PRLI) project be stopped. They also called for water to be sourced from other locations.

---

The demand followed protests by farmers’ organisations, retired employees and intellectuals. They urged the Congress government to withdraw its plans to divert water from Palamuru to Nalgonda district. Farmers and intellectuals have warned that diverting water from Yedula to Dindi could adversely affect the ayacut in the erstwhile Palamuru region.

However, at a meeting with officials in Hyderabad on Friday, Revanth Reddy directed them to make arrangements to lift an additional 0.6 TMC of water from the Srisailam reservoir. He proposed a dedicated system to lift this additional water from Srisailam and Narlapur to Yedula reservoir.

The Chief Minister also directed the Irrigation Department to conduct a study and prepare designs without delay. The study must identify suitable locations for pumps and pump houses. It must also assess whether the existing canals and tunnels can handle the additional water and identify sections where their capacity needs to be increased.

“These works be executed in a manner that allows water to be supplied from Yedula to the Dindi and Achampet projects, without hindering the water allocations earmarked for the Palamuru project,” Revanth Reddy said.

The meeting also addressed concerns raised by representatives from Mahabubnagar and Nalgonda districts over whether water for the Dindi project should be drawn from Narlapur or Yedula. Officials presented the estimated costs of both options and explained their respective advantages and disadvantages.

As a compromise, the Chief Minister proposed works to secure additional water for the Dindi and Achampet schemes without affecting supplies to the Palamuru project. The Ministers who attended the meeting supported the proposal.

Tummidihatti barrage meeting

Meanwhile, Revanth Reddy directed officials to prepare for discussions with the Maharashtra government on the proposed Tummidihatti barrage.

Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had recently indicated that an invitation for talks would be extended after November 23, Revanth Reddy said.

Irrigation engineers briefed the Chief Minister on the potential storage and diversion capacities of the proposed barrage. They explained how much water could be secured by building it at a height of 152 metres. They also outlined the volume of water that could be transported up to Yellampalli if the barrage height were fixed at 150 metres.

Officials clarified that the barrage would not submerge any villages in Maharashtra. They said construction at a height of 152 metres would submerge about 2,300 acres of land. At 150 metres, the submerged area would be less than 1,000 acres. The Chief Minister directed officials to assess the impact of submergence in Maharashtra and ensure that the barrage was designed to capture as much water as possible.

He noted that Maharashtra had earlier agreed to a barrage height of 148 metres. However, he said a barrage built at that height would not store the desired volume of water.