Telangana to seek Maharashtra nod for 152-metre Tummidihetti barrage construction
Hyderabad, Oct 23 (TNT) : Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Friday directed officials to prepare a comprehensive technical presentation to seek Maharashtra’s approval for constructing the Tummidihetti barrage at a height of 152 metres, as the two states are expected to hold talks after October 23.
During a review meeting on irrigation projects here, Revanth Reddy said Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis had expressed willingness to hold discussions after October 23.
Officials were asked to prepare detailed reports on water availability, submergence, and the volume of water that could be diverted to the Yellampalli project at barrage heights of 150 metres and 152 metres.
According to the officials, construction at 152 metres would submerge around 2,300 acres, while a height of 150 metres would affect less than 1,000 acres.
They said the proposed barrage would not submerge villages in Maharashtra.
The Chief Minister stressed that the project was crucial for providing irrigation to two lakh acres in the undivided Adilabad district, which has a large tribal population and faces socio-economic challenges.
He directed officials to keep records of previous meetings between the two states under the Central Water Commission (CWC) readily available and furnish any information sought by the Commission.
Noting that Maharashtra had earlier agreed to a barrage height of 148 metres, Revanth Reddy said the proposed height would have to be assessed in terms of its ability to divert the required quantity of water.
He asked officials to prepare comprehensive technical reports to persuade Maharashtra to consider the 152-metre proposal.
The Chief Minister also directed engineers to prepare designs for the water conveyance system from Tummidihetti to Yellampalli and take up land acquisition once the barrage height was finalised.
Separately, Revanth Reddy instructed officials to arrange an additional 0.6 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) of water from the Srisailam reservoir to meet the requirements of the Dindi and Achampet lift irrigation schemes.
Of this, 0.5 TMC would be allocated to Dindi and 0.1 TMC to Achampet.
The additional water would be lifted from Srisailam through Narlapur to the Yedula reservoir, ensuring that the existing water allocations for the Palamuru project remained unaffected, he said.
Officials were asked to study the requirement for additional pumps and pump houses, assess the adequacy of existing canals and tunnels, and identify stretches where canal capacity needed to be expanded.
The meeting also reviewed proposals to supply water to the Dindi project from Narlapur or Yedula, with officials presenting a comparison of the estimated costs, advantages and disadvantages of both options.
Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy, Ministers Jupally Krishna Rao and Duddilla Sridhar Babu and senior irrigation officials attended the meeting.
TNT TS
