No new irrigation projects on River Godavari: Telangana

Telangana State on Friday asserted that it had not taken up any new irrigation projects on River Godavari as alleged by Andhra Pradesh, but had only re-engineered certain projects that were approved and designed by the erstwhile government in undivided AP.

Explaining the State’s stand at the 9th meeting of the Godavari River Management Board (GRMB) here, Irrigation Principal Secretary Rajat Kumar pointed out that the re-engineering had to be taken up since the earlier designs were biased against Telangana and not in its interest.

The meeting was necessitated following a complaint lodged by the AP government that Telangana had taken up nine new projects on the river without approvals. The meeting was chaired by GRMB chairman J Chandrashekhar Iyer, and was attended by Engineers in Chief (Telangana) C Muralidhar, E-in-C of Andhra Pradesh C Narayana Reddy, Rajat Kumar and AP Special Chief Secretary Adityanath.

“All projects have been approved by the authorities concerned before the State was bifurcated. In Telangana, water can’t flow with the help of gravity due to its hilly terrain. Hence, lifts are being used to take surplus water from one place to the other. A lift can’t be counted as a



project. 

There is a huge cost involved in lifting water, but considering the terrain, the State is spending huge amounts to lift the water to great height to irrigate land and to provide drinking water,” Rajat Kumar told the media after the GRMB meeting.

He said the neighbouring State had complained that Telangana had enhanced utilization under Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) from 225 tmcft to 450 tmcft, and from 70 tmcft to 100 tmcft under Sita Rama Lift Irrigation Scheme. “We countered their contention by pointing out that the Bachawat Award had allocated 967 TMC of Godavari water to Telangana and we have the right to use it as per our requirement. Our present utilizations are much lower than what we are entitled for,” he said.

He also brought to the notice of the Board that even as Telangana had a right over 58 TMC in Nizamsagar and 185 TMC in SRSP, it hardly ever received the full quantity as upper riparian States utilize most of it. “AP has been diverting 80 TMC of Godavari water to Krishna basin via Pattiseema lift. We informed the GRMB that Telangana has a share in the 45 TMC of Godavari water as per allocations in united AP. I am sure the Board will consider our submission,” he said.