Two new lift irrigation schemes mooted in Sangareddy

SANGAREDDY: The State government has decided to build two lift irrigation projects which will draw water from the Singur reservoir and irrigate 2.5 lakh acres in Narayankhed and Zaheerabad constituencies. This comes as a ray of hope for the local farmers, who grow commercial crops and have long been dependent on borewells to irrigate their farms.

While the government is already operating several lift irrigation projects across the State, the need for two more was strongly felt to irrigate 2.5 lakh acres in Zaheerabad and Narayankhed. For this, it plans to divert the Godavari waters to the Singur project and has decided in-principle to undertake the two projects. The Superintendent of the district’s Irrigation Department, A Muralidhar, said officials have started to invite tenders for drafting a detailed project report (DPR). The government has also decided the location of the projects and the areas these will supply water to. The project in Zaheerabad will be called the Sangameshwara Upliftment Scheme which will irrigate 1,52,000 acres in Vatpalli, Munipalli, Zaheerabad, Mogadampalli, Kohir, Nyalkal and Jharasangam mandals. 

The one in Narayankhed will be named Basaveshwara which will supply water to 88,000 acres. The government has decided to irrigate 25,132 acres in Kalher, 7,942 acres in Narayankhed, 41,403 acres in Manoor and 28,918 acres in Kangti mandals. The farmers in the area believe that if the Godavari waters reach Narayankhed, most of the land which is now covered in rubble, will turn lush green with crops. 

The government, which aims at irrigating nearly one million acres across 10 Assembly constituencies in the erstwhile Medak district, supplies irrigation water to most parts of Siddipet and Gajwel through the Ranganayaka Sagar and Kondapochamma reservoirs. It is also working on the Mallanna Sagar reservoir which is coming up in Dubbaka.