Kaleshwaram reservoirs could receive more Godavari water if Telangana operates the project’s pumps around the clock, senior BRS leader T Harish Rao has urged the state government, citing continuing flood flows at Yellampalli and low storage levels in several linked reservoirs.
In a letter to irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday, Rao asked the government to immediately use the available Godavari flows to lift water and fill reservoirs under the Kaleshwaram project. He said the stored water could support irrigation and drinking-water requirements across Telangana.
Rao urged the government not to cite El Niño conditions as an excuse and instead focus on securing water for farmers. He alleged that the state was not using the current river flows to build up storage despite what he described as an opportunity to serve drought-affected areas.
According to Rao, the reservoir network associated with Kaleshwaram has a combined storage capacity of 141 TMC. He said Annapurna and Ranganayaka Sagar reservoirs were at dead-storage levels, while Mallanna Sagar, which has a capacity of 50 TMC, held about 13 TMC. Kondapochamma Sagar, with a capacity of 15 TMC, was holding around 6 TMC, he said.
Rao proposed lifting water from Yellampalli and transferring it to Mid Manair, Annapurna, Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar, Gandhamalla and Baswapur reservoirs. He said filling the linked reservoirs could benefit nearly five lakh acres of agricultural land.
The demand also has implications for urban and regional water supply. Rao said water stored in the reservoirs would help meet Hyderabad’s drinking-water needs and support future requirements in other regions. He also pointed to Lower Manair Dam, which he said currently held about 11 TMC, and called for water to be supplied to the reservoir for irrigation and drinking-water needs in Karimnagar, Warangal and surrounding areas.
The districts named in his letter include Peddapalli, Rajanna Sircilla, Siddipet, Medak, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Medchal-Malkajgiri and Hyderabad. The proposal places the operation of the Kaleshwaram pumping network at the centre of an immediate water-storage decision, with the current Godavari flows providing the time-sensitive trigger for the request.
The report did not include a response from the irrigation department or details of any government decision on operating the pumps. The next step will depend on the state government’s assessment of river flows, reservoir conditions and the feasibility of lifting and transferring water through the Kaleshwaram network.
