Telangana CM asks officials to be prepared to convince Maharashtra for 152 m FRL barrage at Tummidihatti

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Friday asked the officials to be prepared for talks with Maharashtra soon on the construction of Tummidihatti Barrage across Pranahitha river with 152 metres full reservoir level (FRL), by building a case to convince the upper riparian State.

In a meeting with ministers and officials here, he noted that his Maharashtra counterpart Devendra Fadnavis had indicated recently that Telangana would be called for discussion on Tummidihatti after October 23 (Friday). Deputy Chief Minister M. Bhatti Vikramarka, Ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, D. Sridhar Babu and Jupally Krishna Rao, Rajya Sabha member Vem Narender Reddy participated.

Engineers of the Irrigation department explained to the Chief Minister the details about possible quantities of water diversion/lifting to Yellampally project with 152 metres FRL and 150 metres FRL of the Tummidihatti Barrage. They stated that no villages would submerge in Maharashtra with the construction of the barrage and only 2,300 acres would face submergence with 152 metres FRL and less than 1,000 acres with 150 metres FRL.

The Chief Minister instructed the authorities to estimate the submergence in Maharashtra so that the State could be convinced for diversion of maximum possible water by Telangana. He told the officials to share all necessary information sought by the Central Water Commission (CWC) following a meeting between the officials of the two States held at New Delhi last month.

Stating that the barrage was being planned to irrigate 2 lakh acres ayacut in the most backward Adilabad district comprising mostly forest and tribal areas, he expressed hope that those who fought with the slogan of ‘jal, jungle, jameen’ would get benefit from the project. He told the authorities to focus on water transmission route and designs along with land acquisition after the clarity on the barrage height.

He pointed out that Maharashtra had agreed for 148 metres FRL in the past, but such a low-height barrage would not enable Telangana to get/divert expected quantities of water. He told the officials to be prepared with all technical reports, water availability, extent of submergence to convince Maharashtra to permit 152 metres FRL. He also told the Ministers to explain the necessities of Telangana to help convince Maharashtra for 152 metres FRL.

Dindi project

Further, the Chief Minister instructed the officials to make arrangements for lifting of 0.5 tmc ft water a day to Dindi project and 0.1 tmc ft a day for Achampet lift irrigation scheme by making additional arrangements to take 0.6 tmc ft water from Srisailam reservoir with lifting at Narlapur pump house of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, without affecting the utilisation of PRLIS.

Irrigation Advisor Adityanath Das, CMO Secretary K. Manicka Raj, tunnel expert Col. Parikshit Mehra, chief engineers of the projects and others attended.