Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy has directed irrigation officials to prepare proposals and technical reports for discussions with Maharashtra on constructing the Tummidihetti barrage, while also ordering immediate steps to supply water to the Dindi and Achampet lift irrigation projects.
The instructions were issued during a review meeting on irrigation projects at Bodhi Pavilion on Friday. The Chief Minister asked officials to assess water availability at the proposed barrage height and document the extent of submergence that would occur within Maharashtra’s boundaries.
The Tummidihetti project is being pursued to support irrigation across two lakh acres in the erstwhile Adilabad district, a predominantly forested and tribal region. Reddy told officials to compile details of recent meetings held in New Delhi and prepare the material required to present Telangana’s case to the Maharashtra government.
The proposed barrage involves inter-state coordination because the assessment of submergence within Maharashtra will be part of the discussions. Reddy had earlier indicated that talks with Maharashtra would begin after October 23. The latest directions require officials to complete the water-availability and submergence assessments before those discussions.
The review also covered the Dindi and Achampet lift irrigation projects. The Chief Minister instructed officials to lift 0.5 TMC of water from the Eedula reservoir for the Dindi project and 0.1 TMC for the Achampet scheme. Together, the two projects have been assigned an initial requirement of 0.6 TMC from the reservoir.
To support that allocation, officials were directed to make alternative arrangements to bring an additional 0.6 TMC of water from Srisailam and Narlapur to the Eedula reservoir. Reddy said the proposed arrangements would not affect water supplies to the Palamuru region.
The Chief Minister also ordered the immediate execution of the physical systems required for the lift irrigation arrangements, including pump houses, pumps and related equipment. These works are intended to facilitate the transfer of water for the Dindi and Achampet projects.
The decisions place three separate implementation tasks before the irrigation administration: preparing the inter-state proposal for Tummidihetti, establishing the water-availability and submergence details for Maharashtra talks, and taking up the pumping infrastructure required for the two lift irrigation schemes. The next formal step for Tummidihetti is the proposed engagement with the Maharashtra government after October 23.
