In Andhra's Kurnool, There Is Water All Around But None For Irrigation

Farmers in the Kurnool district of Andhra Pradesh are facing a pressing problem. Even though water is nearby and floodwaters are flowing around, there is a shortage of drinking and irrigation water. Due to heavy rains upstream, massive floodwaters are reaching the Srisailam reservoir from the Almatti and Jurala projects in Telangana, as well as from the Tungabhadra reservoir and the Sunkesula reservoir in Kurnool district.

Typically, the floodwaters reaching the Srisailam reservoir provide drinking and irrigation water to the farmers of the undivided Cuddapah district, as well as to the Kadapa, Anantapur, and Chittoor districts via the Handri-Neeva canal. But some shoddy construction work has left the areas devoid of water.

As part of the Chennai-Surat National Highway works, a bridge construction was undertaken over the Handri-Neeva canal at Gargapuram in Kurnool district. However, as part of the bridge construction, a service road was built over the canal by completely covering it with soil. Normally, during such works, pipelines are laid over the canal, and the road is constructed over these pipes.

However, due to the negligence of the road contractor, the canal was entirely covered with soil, causing difficulties for irrigation and drinking water supply. The Handri-Neeva Sujala Sravanthi lift irrigation project is the largest project in the state. Through this project, nearly 554 kilometres of canal construction was undertaken to supply drinking and irrigation water not just to the Kurnool district but also to Rayalaseema districts including Kadapa, Anantapur, Chittoor, and Kuppam.

The Handri-Neeva project, constructed for Rs 6,480 crores, lifts the backwaters of Srisailam to irrigate 80,000 acres in Kurnool district, 3,45,000 acres in Anantapur district, 37,500 acres in Kadapa district, and 1,40,000 acres in Chittoor district, providing drinking water to 3.3 million people. The project can utilize nearly 40 TMC of water from the backwaters of Srisailam through lift irrigation. However, due to the negligence of the contractor executing the Chennai-Surat National Highway works and the failure of officials to supervise the work properly, the full release of water has been hindered.

As a result, millions of cubic feet of floodwater coming to the Srisailam reservoir from upstream are being wasted and flowing into the sea. Due to hastily initiated works, instead of releasing 2500 to 3000 cubic feet of water through 12 pumps, only 650 cubic feet of water is being released through just 2 pumps.

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