Telangana Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy pledges full use of Godavari water for farmers

On August 1, Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy inspected the Sriramsagar, Kadem and Sripada Yellampally projects as they received the first significant Godavari inflows of the monsoon season. He said the state is working to maximise utilisation of Godavari water for irrigation, drinking and agriculture in north Telangana districts.

Reddy announced that a decision on releasing water from the Sriramsagar Project for irrigation will be taken within three days, and that desilting of the reservoir, whose current storage is 27 tmcft against 38 tmcft last year, is a priority. He noted that silt has reduced the project's designed capacity of 112 tmcft.

He contrasted older lift projects built under previous Congress governments, which continue to operate, with the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme that developed structural problems by 2023. The government is following guidelines from the National Dam Safety Authority and the Central Water Commission before storing water.

Telangana has achieved a record paddy production of nearly 300 lakh metric tonnes annually, with procurement of 152 lakh tonnes in recent seasons, despite not using water from the damaged barrages.