Telangana: Medak farmers dig Kaleshwaram sub-canal as government halts works

Farmers of Malkapur and Gunreddipally took up the work on their own to dig a five-kilometre sub-canal to save their drying crops

Medak: With the Congress government halting all works related to the Kaleshwara Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), farmers of Malkapur and Gunreddipally took up the work on their own and dug a five-kilometre KLIP sub-canal to save their drying crops.

The farmers of these two villages were elated when the BRS government led by K Chandrashekhar Rao planned a distributary canal (Kistapur sub-canal) through their villages to impound the lakes and provide irrigation water to fields. However, their hopes were dashed when the Congress came to power.

The sub-canal works have been pending ever since. When the farmers saw their crops drying up and water levels in the lakes touching dead storage early in March, they sat together and decided to join hands to dig the 5 km leftover canal to get Godavari water to their village and save their crops.

They mobilised more than Rs 3 lakh from among themselves and started the digging work on March 3. They blasted rocks and a small hillock and completed the works on a war-footing by March 15. The water reached the village on March 18. Their efforts saved paddy on nearly 800 acres in these two villages.

It also boosted the groundwater levels, which would benefit another 3,000 acres during the summer. The lakes along the canal — Turka Cheruvu, Danthalukunta, Cheniga Cheruvu, Vaddepally Cheruvu, and Borrekunta — were all brimming with water now. The farmers can now also go for early cultivation of the coming Vanakalam crops since there was enough groundwater.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Pitla Chennaiah, a farmer of Malkapur, said that the Ramayampet canal, which takes water to Ramayampet from Kondapochamma Sagar, was passing just five km away from their village.

However, the pending canal works became a hurdle in utilising the water. But, the drying crops motivated them to come together and chalk out a plan to get the water to their village overcoming many challenges on the way.

The village erupted in celebration when the water reached the village. The water will flow down into a chain of smaller lakes located downstream. Chennaiah, Jinna Krishna, Chinthala Balesha, Jinna Swamy, Manne Ramesh, Pitla Yadagiri, Jinka Raju and, Penta Reddy led the farmers in completing the work.