Heavy rains highlight need for projects, check dams

Kadam river  in spate at Kupti 

Once again, heavy rains highlighted the need to have irrigation projects on the rivers Penganga, Pranahitha and Godavari to utilize the water for agriculture and drinking water purposes and avoid floods instead valuable water going into the sea.

The heavy rains also reminded the need to construct the check dams on the streams and rivulets to increase the ground water table instead allowing the rainwater going waste during the monsoon every year in the Adilabad district.

Flood water entered into the villages located on the shore of the rivers and some of the villages marooned along the Penganga, Pranahitha ad Godavari and streams and rivulets flowing high following the heavy rains in the district.

The minor and medium irrigation projects have received flood water more than their actual capacities and discharging the water to downstream lifting the gates in all most all the projects in the district.

The projects have suffered some loss in terms of its actual water storage capacity due to accumulated heavy siltation over the years and no efforts for desiltation in the subsequent years.

Authorities made efforts for desiltation in Kadam irrigation project last year to increase the storage capacity of the project but there were no such efforts in case of other projects in the district. There was a steep fall in the actual storage capacity of the SRSP.

The rivulets Kushnepalli, Kukuda, Theegala Orre and Talaiguda vagu were overflowing with rainwater and cut off road connectivity to the 35 villages in Bejjur mandal while road connectivity to the 10 villages in Dahegoam mandal due to Erravaguorre overflowing.

On the other hand, road connectivity badly affected to bordering villages in Jainad mandal due to river Penganga water flowing over the interstate bridge at Anandpur village in Jainad mandal.  

Rain fury envelopes state :

The standing crops, cotton, red gram and soya on hundreds of acres submerged in the floodwaters following the incessant rains that struck in the last four days in the district. 

The heavy rains that lashed various places badly hit the standing crops in the plant growing stage itself causing much damage to the yield.  

The streams and rivulets were flowing high and rivers Penganga and Pranahitha flowing high while the Godavari received the comparatively good amount of water.

The Kadam river which was in spate inundated the standing crops in 700 acres in Kupti and Kumari villages alone in Neredigonda while flowing downstream into  the Kuntala waterfall and subsequently into Kadam irrigation project.

Kadam river is flowing high due to heavy rains in the upstream and all the rivulets and stream come from Boath and Bajarhathnoor merged into Kadam at Kupti village.

Bheemraj Goud of Kupti said the river was in spate after 2013 when hundreds of acres submerged in the floodwaters and farmers incurred a huge loss and now the Kadam again devastated the standing crops caused huge loss to farmers.

B. Vijay Kumar of the same village said floodwaters entered into the agriculture fields located close to the Kadam river and inundated standing crops and added that crops in nearly 800 acres out of 1,200 acres along the river inundated.

A portion of a historical Kupti bridge washed away in the floodwaters taking surprise on to the onlookers.

Irrigation officials released 5,000 cusecs of water from the Gaddanna vagu irrigation project by lifting two gates in Bhainsa and water also released by lifting  from Kadam, Mattadivagu, and Swarna to down streams as all the irrigation projects received rainwater to their full capacity.

Flood water enters into the houses in low-lying areas and breached the roads affecting the connectivity to the villages at various places and the situation has become worst due to rivulets and streams flowing high in Chennur and Sirpur (T) Assembly Constituencies.

Most of the low-lying bridges were submerged in the floodwaters and disrupted the transportation to the many villages in the above two constituencies. People using country made boats reach their destinations and come out of their villages surrounded by the floodwaters following the heavy rains.

Temporary bridge washed away in the floodwaters at Belgoam village in Jainad manual. Coal production was affected in the opencast mines Dorli –I and II, Khairiguda, Srirampur and Ramakrishnapur due to heavy rains and waters entered into the mines. The SCCL has suffered a loss of Rs 20 cores in terms of coal production affected due to heavy rains in the last four days.

Road connectivity disrupted to Kubheer village from Bhainsa as the Gaddannavagu project waters came onto the roads.