Under pressure from BRS, Telangana govt begins pumping water in Kaleshwaram project

The Telangana government has resumed pumping operations under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme after heavy rainfall boosted inflows into the Godavari and Krishna rivers. Water is being lifted from major projects like Sripada Yellampalli and routed to reservoirs, easing drinking water and irrigation concerns.

Hyderabad: After months of reluctance to operate key components of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, the Congress government on Wednesday restarted parts of the project following improved rainfall across Telangana. Inflows swelled into the Godavari River which were diverted into major reservoirs, bringing much-needed relief to farmers and easing concerns over irrigation and drinking water supplies.

The Irrigation Department restarted lifting Godavari waters from the Sripada Yellampalli Project through the Nandi Pump House under Link-II of the Kaleshwaram project. Four pumps, each lifting 3,150 cusecs, were switched on to pump a total of 12,600 cusecs towards the Nandi Reservoir before the water was routed to the Gayatri Pump House.

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Subsequently, the pumping operations were resumed from the Gayatri Pump House at Lakshmipur in Karimnagar district, where three pumps were pressed into service to lift 10,500 cusecs of Godavari River water.

The water is being conveyed through the SRSP flood flow canal to the Mid Manair Reservoir, boosting water availability for irrigation and drinking purposes in the region.

Officials said the pumping operation would continue for three days to meet drinking water requirements. The resumption of pumping has been welcomed by farmers, who expect improved water availability for the ongoing Vaanakalam (Kharif) agricultural season.

The decision comes amid widespread rainfall across Telangana, particularly in the erstwhile Adilabad and Karimnagar districts, where heavy showers have sharply increased inflows into irrigation projects. The Kadem Project in Nirmal district was receiving an inflow of 20,100 cusecs, while the Sripada Yellampalli Project recorded a substantial inflow of 66,126 cusecs, significantly improving reservoir levels.

As on Wednesday, the Kadem project had 1.3 TMCft against a total storage capacity of 3.49 TMCft. The Sripada Yellampalli project held around 10.43 TMCft against a total storage capacity of 20.17 TMCft.

Meanwhile, relentless rainfall continued to disrupt normal life in several parts of the State as streams, rivulets and rivers overflowed. In Medak district, overflowing waters in the Dup Singh Thanda stream in Haveli Ghanpur mandal snapped connectivity to several villages, while the causeway near the Edupayala Vanadurga Bhavani temple was submerged.
In Jagtial district, overflowing waters from the Anantharam and Nerella streams flowed over the national highway, bringing traffic between Jagtial and Dharmapuri to a complete halt. The Aksaipalle–Nagaram road was damaged, floodwaters entered houses in several villages, and the district recorded 18.9 cm of rainfall in the last 24 hours.

The surge in inflows was also reflected in major reservoirs on the Krishna River across the State. The Nizam Sagar project received an inflow of 6,585 cusecs, with the water level touching 1,395.40 feet and storage reaching 7.139 TMCft.

The Jurala project recorded an inflow of 27,000 cusecs, with the reservoir level at 317.240 metres and storage at 7.17 TMCft. Authorities were also utilising the floodwaters for hydropower generation, producing a combined 395 MW of electricity from the upstream and downstream power stations.

Heavy rains coupled with increased inflows in both the Godavari and Krishna Rivers helped the State to overcome the ongoing water crisis partially. With the officials predicting heavy rains across the State for next three days, the government is expected to ensure adequate drinking water supply across the State and also irrigation water supply in a few parts. For farmers awaiting assured irrigation after an uncertain monsoon onset, the renewed pumping operations have come as a timely boost.