Telangana to place Phase-II irrigation projects desiltation before cabinet

Hyderabad: Telangana government is set to place proposals for Phase-II desiltation of major irrigation projects, including the Sriramsagar Project (SRSP), before the state Cabinet, as part of efforts to restore lost reservoir capacity and ensure a reliable water supply to farmers.

Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday said sedimentation has emerged as a “major nationwide problem” and stressed the need for urgent, large-scale intervention to revive aging irrigation infrastructure.

Addressing irrigation officials and representatives of farmers from SRSP Stage-II ayacut districts at the Secretariat, the Minister underlined that restoring gross storage capacity was critical to equitable water distribution, particularly to tail-end farmers.

Storage hit by decades of silt

Reddy noted that sedimentation has significantly reduced the storage capacity of projects such as SRSP.

“Capacity in SRSP has come down from the original around 120 TMC to nearly 80 TMC due to decades of silt accumulation,” he said, adding that similar challenges are being faced by major reservoirs across the country, including the Bhakra Nangal Dam.

He called for coordinated efforts between the Centre and the State under the national framework for sedimentation and desiltation management.

Phase-II proposals to go before Cabinet

The Minister said detailed proposals for Phase-II desiltation would be prepared and placed before the Cabinet for approval and funding.

He also assured farmers that he would raise concerns regarding tail-end irrigation and downstream water supply with Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy.

“We must press ahead with scaled-up desiltation across major projects to restore storage and ensure equitable distribution of water,” he said, directing officials to expedite surveys and tender processes.

Kaddam pilot faces sand disposal hurdles

Referring to Phase-I works, Reddy said desiltation of the Kaddam Project had been taken up on a pilot basis using modern dredging techniques.

However, he pointed out that the executing agency was facing challenges in marketing the extracted sand due to limited local demand and high transportation costs to distant markets such as Hyderabad. The lack of viable disposal avenues, he said, was affecting cost recovery.

Despite these hurdles, the Minister stressed that the programme should continue without delay and called for sustainable solutions for silt and sand utilisation.

Surveys and Tenders underway

Officials informed the meeting that desiltation efforts are being aligned with national sedimentation management guidelines, including environmental safeguards.

Surveys and tenders are progressing for projects such as Kaddam, where an estimated 3 TMC ft of capacity has reportedly been lost to siltation, as well as SRSP and other reservoirs.

Execution is planned in phases to minimise disruption during the monsoon season.

Irrigation Secretary E. Sridhar, Special Secretary Prashant Patil, and Engineer-in-Chief (General) Ramesh Babu were among senior officials who interacted with farmers during the meeting.