Siddipet (Telangana): Telangana Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao on Friday inaugurated the Konda Pochamma Sagar reservoir in Siddipet district, part of the state government's flagship Kaleswaram project across the Godavari river.
He inaugurated the 15 TMC reservoir in the presence of spiritual guru Sri Tridandi Srimannarayana Chinna Jeeyar Swamy.
Water would be supplied from the Konda Pochamma Sagar reservoir through gravity to the hitherto arid lands in the region which had no irrigation facility till date, official sources said.
They further said it was unique that water from Godavari river, lifted from various stages from the barrage at Medigadda, is pumped into the Konda Pochamma reservoir which is at a height of 618 metres.
State Municipal Administration Minister K T Rama Rao said the Konda Pochamma Sagar reservoir along with the upcoming Keshavapuram reservoir would also cater to the drinking water needs of Hyderabad,besides providing irrigation facility.
"Besides water to irrigate 2.85 Lakh acres, #KondaPochammaSagar reservoir along with soon be started #Keshavapuram reservoir will also ensure permanent solution
for drinking water needs of #Hyderabad All thanks to Hon'ble CM KCR's vision to build infrastructure for long term," he tweeted.
Talking to reporters after the inauguration,Chandrasekhar Rao said Telangana would cultivate crops worth Rs one lakh crore with the completion of various irrigation
schemes.
"I feel proud today. Because, we held a meeting in Hyderabad yesterday. We took decisions on what will be the (crops) harvest in Telangana, how the produce should go to markets, how the farmers can get excellent prices and what should be our strategy in the future.
Read: Telangana imposes salary cut for employees for May too
"It came out in the calculations that Telangana farming community would cultivate crops worth Rs one lakh crore per year," he said.
Kondapochammasagar project is part of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project called package-14, which includes a reservoir and two pump houses. In the first pump house - 7 structures and 6 machines were erected with a total capacity of 162 megawatts (MW).
The second pump house has 8 structures and 6 machines with a capacity of 34 MW each and the total capacity of 204 MW. Kondapochammasagar is built with 15 thousand million cubic (TMC) of water storing capacity and the reservoir is constructed with 135 kilometres long 8 main canals
Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) has completed all the critical works of Kaleshwaram Project, a multi-purpose lift irrigation project in the state.
MEIL built 15 pumping stations with 89 machines having a capacity of 3840 MW that could lift 2 TMC of water per day. It has established a massive power supply system for the Kaleshwaram project, which is almost equal to one-fourth of the entire power supply system of Telangana
Earlier, Chandrasekhar Rao participated in 'Chandi Yagam' performed at the Konda Pochamma temple situated in the region.The project is named after the deity.
He also took part in 'Sudarshana Yagam' at the pump house of the reservoir at Markuk village.
Described as a boon to the southern state, the Kaleswaram lift irrigation project was inaugurated last year. Official sources had then said the project would provide irrigation facility for two crops in a year to 45 lakh acres, besides catering to drinking water, industrial and power generation needs. (PTI and ANI)
