Telangana to revive Pranahita-Chevella project, seeks Maharashtra’s approval for barrage

In a Wednesday meeting, Chief Minister Revanth Reddy instructed the irrigation department to initiate dialogue with Maharashtra seeking consent for constructing the Tummidihatti barrage at a height of 150 metres and to obtain the support of Union coal minister G Kishan Reddy. Officials noted that a 150-metre height could enable the utilization of at least 100 tmc, with around 300 acres of submergence expected to be minimized. They recalled that Maharashtra had previously agreed to a 148-metre height. The government had spent about ₹11,000 crore on the Pranahita-Chevella project and about 71.5 kilometres of canal work had been completed. The CM also indicated readiness to compensate displaced and to expedite geo-testing for the Medigadda barrage to complete works before the monsoon.

In October 2023 floods, all three barrages — Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla — suffered damages within about two years of completion.

The Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project was completed in 2021.

The Kaleshwaram project began by constructing three barrages — Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla — which contributed to a cost rise from ₹38,000 crore to over ₹1 lakh crore.

After the formation of Telangana, the BRS government led by K. Chandrasekhar Rao dropped the Tummidihatti project and redesigned the scheme as the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project by relocating the barrage to Medigadda downstream of the Godavari. Officials argued there was insufficient water at Tummidihatti and that the barrage could cause submergence in Maharashtra.

The Pranahita-Chevella lift irrigation scheme was conceived to harness water from the Pranahita river, a tributary of Godavari, to lift 160 tmc by constructing a barrage at Tummidihatti at a height of 152 metres and diverting the water into the existing Sripada Sagar Yellampalli project, under undivided Andhra Pradesh.