TRS chief Kalvakuntla Kavitha has urged the Telangana government to construct a temporary coffer dam at the Kannepalli pump house by the end of November, saying the intervention could divert Pranahita river water to irrigation reservoirs and support farmers facing drought conditions.
Kavitha made the demand after inspecting water flow in the Pranahita river at the Kannepalli pump house on Monday with party leaders. She warned of an agitation at the pump house if work on the proposed structure is not initiated by the deadline.
According to Kavitha, nearly 2 tmcft of Pranahita water is flowing unused every day despite the drought conditions she described as severe. She proposed building a temporary coffer dam at a height of 93 metres above the Kannepalli pump house to divert the water to the Annaram and Sundilla reservoirs.
Kavitha said the diversion would bypass the damaged Medigadda barrage and help recharge the wider water network. She estimated the cost of the proposed structure at ₹25 crore and said it could be completed within 45 days. The proposal has not been presented in the supplied report as an approved government project; TRS said it would submit the technical details to the government and engineers for review.
The demand comes as the state’s irrigation system faces pressure from the reported damage to the Medigadda barrage and the need to supply water to standing crops. Kavitha urged the government to begin repair work at Medigadda at the same time as it considers the temporary diversion, arguing that restoration should not delay water pumping for agriculture.
She also called for the government to keep political considerations aside while addressing farmers’ needs and to procure power immediately for irrigation pumping. Kavitha said crops had been sown across 1.1 crore acres out of Telangana’s 1.36 crore acres of arable land and were at critical stages requiring water and electricity.
The proposal places the Kannepalli pump house at the centre of an immediate debate over how Telangana can use available river flows while longer-term repairs to damaged irrigation infrastructure continue. Its implementation would depend on technical assessment, government approval, engineering feasibility and the availability of funds. The next stated step is the submission of TRS’s technical proposal to the government and engineers for review.
