Telangana: 120-km Godavari stretch, once brimming with water, turns bone dry

Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages, intended to boost agriculture, pisciculture, and biodiversity, have been left non-functional under the pretext of structural issues

Hyderabad: The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) was once a symbol of hope, designed to transform the arid landscape and bring prosperity to the region. However, the current state of the project tells a different story.

The 120-km stretch of the Godavari River, once brimming with water due to the construction of three barrages — Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla — now lies bone dry. These barrages, which were intended to boost agriculture, pisciculture, and biodiversity, have been left non-functional under the pretext of structural issues.

Larger stretches of the Godavari river above the three barrages have become heavily sediment-laden. The accumulation of sand and organic material has turned the riverbed into soil, providing ample scope for riverbank encroachment for agriculture. In some areas, Rabi crops are being grown, highlighting the extent of the sediment deposition.

The Medigadda Barrage alone has accumulated over 90 lakh tonnes of sand, presenting a revenue potential through sand quarrying. The government has planned desilting operations for the barrage and the surrounding plain, but illegal quarrying has already commenced in certain areas. This inaction could prove costly for the State, as it misses out on potential revenue and faces the challenge of managing the sediment load.

The three barrages — Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla — were constructed with a gross storage capacity of 16 tmcft, 10.97 tmcft, and 8.83 tmcft, respectively. These barrages extended irrigation support to over 18 lakh acres while stabilising the existing ayacut to an equal extent. All three barrages were emptied in March 2024 as desired by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) to facilitate an end-to-end inspection of the structural issues.

From the second week of June last year, fresh inflows started into Medigadda and subsequently into Annaram and Sundilla. State officials said that Pranahita water could be lifted without impounding any water in Medigadda by putting up gabion structures to divert water to the pump house. Both Sundilla and Annaram would be able to support the lifting operations. However, the Congress government preferred to keep the project idle.

With truncated operations allowed, at least one-tenth of the designed capacity of the project could not be utilised this year. Some key projects, such as SRSP and Mid-Manair, were given water from the Sripada Yellamapalli project. Farmers requested officials to maintain at least one tmc of water in the barrages to stabilise the groundwater table for irrigation.

Water in dead storage levels also dried up due to the NDSA officials’ request for an end-to-end inspection of the structures. Despite the inspection, no significant progress has been made in rehabilitating the barrages, potentially impacting the second Kharif season.

Inflows into Annaram and Sundilla have almost dropped to zero now, while the Medigadda barrage continued to receive some 6,000 cusecs of water from Pranahita. This would have been most useful for the ayacuts, but it is allowed to drain from Medigadda with all its 85 gates left fully open.

The surrounding areas, including Ambatipalli, Suraram, Mahadevpur, Bommapur, Elkesavaram, and on the Maharashtra side, Mogapur, Pochampalli, and Wadgam, which had sufficient groundwater till last year, are expected to face a severe water crisis in the coming months.

The groundwater table is likely to drop, posing a severe threat to the livelihoods of farmers and the overall agricultural productivity of the region.

The people of Telangana, especially the farmers, are bearing the brunt of the government’s neglect. It is imperative that the NDSA takes swift and decisive action to restore the functionality of the barrages and maintain river water levels, as urged by water experts.