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TS govt to spend RS 1200 crore on construction of check dams: Puvvada

The minister was addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation stone for a check dam across Munneru river at Prakash Nagar on Thursday

By Telangana Today

Published Date - 11 February 2021, 09:37 PM

TS govt to spend RS 1200 crore on construction of check dams: Puvvada — Transport Minister P Ajay Kumar laid the foundation stone for a check dam across Munneru river in Khammam on Thursday.

Khammam: The State government has plans to build check dams at a cost of Rs 1,200 crore across the State for effective utilisation of water resources, Transport Minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar said on Thursday.

Addressing a public meeting after laying the foundation stone for a check dam across Munneru river at Prakash Nagar here, he said the check dam would be built at a cost of Rs 7. 45 crore.

During the monsoon, lakhs of cusecs of water flow into Krishna river from its tributary Munneru. To check the runoff and store water for Khammam citizen’s use, it was planned to build the check dam at Prakash Nagar.

The check dam would also help in recharging groundwater in the areas near the river and to store around half tmc of water, the Minister said, adding that the check dam was first designed at a height of three metres but engineers were directed to redesign it at a height of six metres to meet future needs.

There are also plans to develop a park with a walking track by constructing a flood bank (Karakatta) on either side of Munneru river to turn it into a tourist spot. The karakatta would also serve as a flood control system during heavy rains, he added.

As of now, there was no shortage of drinking water in Khammam city. Around 120 million litres drinking water was being supplied every day and about 70,000 households in the city were equipped with Mission Bhagiratha tap connections, Ajay Kumar explained.

He said that the State government was giving priority to Khammam development. Hundreds of crores of rupees have been spent on widening roads, laying new roads, developing junctions, central lighting, parks and other works.

Irrigation Department Chief Engineer Shankar Naik informed that the check dam on Munneru would be capable of storing 5.46 million cusecs of water. It helps to increase groundwater level in areas up to five kilometres distance from the river bed.

Ajay Kumar later inspected Lakaram suspension bridge works at Lakaram Tank Bund. ZP Chairman L Kamalraj, SUDA Chairman Bachu Vijay Kumar, Mayor G Papalal, his deputy B Murali Prasad and others were present.