Barrages to be built across Pranahita and Godavari

Irrigation department has conducted LiDAR survey in river Pranahita basin to assess the area to be submerged in the Maharashtra under Pranahita –Chevella irrigation project if taken up at Thummidihatti and suitable places to construct barrages on the river Pranahita in Telangana.

The survey was conducted two days ago in river Pranahita basin in Kautala and Bejjur mandals in the Adilabad district. The survey was also aimed at to identify the suitable places to construct number of barrages on rivers Pranahita and Godavari as part of Pranahita- Chevella project. 

The LiDAR survey was conducted in the river Pranahita basin after conducting the same in river Godavari in Karimnagar district.

Irrigation officials and other LiDAR experts conducted survey to asses the extent of areas in the Maharashtra to be submerged under Pranahita- Chevella in the wake of state government’s decision to construct a project at 152 meters height on river Pranahita at Thummidihatti in Adilabad district and to another one is at Kaleshwaram or Yellampalli in Karimnagar district.

The state government has been claiming that the bordering Maharashtra government is not accepting to submergence of the more acres of lands in their territory with rising height of the project.

Major Irrigation DEE of Karimnagar T. Narasinga Rao who participated in survey said ‘they had conducted a  LiDAR  survey in the upstream of the project located in Maharashtra to asses extent of the land to be submerged under the project if go by the 152 meters height’.

He said they were identifying the suitable places to construct barrages on river Godavari and Pranahita as part of the Pranahita- Chevella project and added they had conducted LiDAR survey on river Godavari from Kaleshwaram of Karimagnar to Badhrachalm of Khammam. The Pranahita- Chevella is aimed at providing water for irrigation in Telangana.

Farmer suicides: Telangana to promote check dams

State government will promote check dams to increase the ground water table, and help in preventing farmer distress in the Telangana.

The check dams will be constructed on rivulets and streams along with the bridges to improve the ground water table to save standing crops during drought in order to prevent farmer suicides in the Telangana state.

Panchayatraj and Roads and buildings departments have to inform the irrigation department while they were constructing bridges on rivulets and stream and even small rivers so that irrigation department construct check dams at such places.

State government has issued instruction to the Panchayatraj and R&B departments to prepare designs of the bridges on streams and rivulets consulting irrigation officials. 

Reports revealed that some farmers had fallen into debt after digging many borewells but failed to get water for agriculture due drastic fall in the ground water at many places.

The state government is of the opinion that farmers were resorting to suicides due to crop failure and subsequent debts due to crop failures during drought and following the borewells dried up following the drastic fall in ground water table.

Borewells they dug goes dry within no time and this was resulted in low yields even after investing huge amounts in digging borewells.

State government found that water from rivulets and streams flowing downstream without any use and enters into sea at last. At many places, there were no check dams on rivulets and streams especially hilly areas and water flows to down stream.

It is also found that overflowing water from tanks goes downstream without any check and go waste but things become worst during summer when there were no rains or scanty rainfall.      

Minister for irrigation T. Harish Rao said ‘they were going to promote check dams on big scale in the state and construct check dams near Swarna irrigation project in Mudhole in the Adilabad to improve the ground water table for agriculture purposes and said state government will give nine hours uninterrupted power to agriculture from next Kharif’.

State government is making serious efforts to install new electric transformers and set up power sub-station to give uninterrupted power supply to the agriculture in future.