Hyderabad: With Telangana grappling with rainfall deficit and the looming threat of water stress, the state govt on Monday moved to maximise utilisation of Godavari waters, directing officials to operate all pumps under the Devadula lift irrigation scheme round-the-clock and fill reservoirs to capacity to safeguard drinking water and irrigation needs.Irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday directed officials to run all the Devadula pumping units continuously and fill the 22 reservoirs under the project to their gross storage capacity to ensure adequate water availability across the command area.The minister, along with deputy chief minister Bhatti Vikramarka and revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy, visited the Devadula LI scheme. Uttam Reddy instructed engineers to take full advantage of the current inflows into Godavari river and operate all pumping units.With inflows currently touching around 20,000 cusecs, seven pumping units are already in operation, supplying water for drinking and irrigation purposes across the command area.“With all 10 pumping units in operation, the project can lift about 0.23 tmc of water every day, enabling the transfer of 1 tmc of water in about four-and-a-half days,” Uttam Reddy said. He directed officials to maximise pumping whenever river conditions permit so that reservoirs remain adequately stocked during the ongoing rainfall deficit.Stating that the state govt would complete the entire Devadula project by Dec 2027, Uttam Reddy said the scheme would deliver its full benefits only after all three phases are completed. He assured farmers that the govt was committed to providing irrigation to the entire command area without delay.The Devadula project was conceived to provide drinking water to several villages in northern Telangana while stabilising irrigation in Mulugu, Bhupalpally, Hanumakonda, Warangal, Jangaon, Siddipet, Karimnagar, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri and Suryapet districts.Upon completion of all three phases, the project is expected to irrigate nearly 5.6 lakh acres. The total estimated cost of the project is around Rs 18,400 crore.Referring to the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme, Uttam Reddy said rehabilitation works on its three barrages would begin once the final rehabilitation designs receive approval.Bhatti said the Devadula project was among the govt’s highest priorities and assured that it would continue to receive priority in the allocation of funds. Srinivas Reddy said land acquisition for the project had been placed on the fast track and that all departments were working in coordination to ensure its timely completion.
