Telangana Irrigation


State Policy and Irrigational Disparities: A Study of Telangana’s Backwardness
Telangana, the semi-arid land of India, is experiencing drought often pushing large numbers of people to the margins of living. Drought visits south Telangana “once in two and half years”. The rainfall of about 70 cm and less in southern Telangana hardly justifies the fact that the region should languish under semi-arid conditions. In fact, the region forms part of the catchment of the perennial rivers Krishna and Godavari. The irrigation policy initiative over the years continuously favored the Delta region leaving a large number of people at the mercy of degraded nature and sub-human living. Thus “Telangana backwardness has essentially political roots: with better administration the considerable water resources could have been more fully tapped for irrigation. Telangana is still mainly a dry farming area, like Rayalaseema, but the reason for this in Telangana is long term failure to harness the potentialities of the area “.
Irrigation Policy
The brief analysis of the irrigation development in Andhra Pradesh illustrates the regional politics in the making of the irrigation system. While debating the merger of a backward region with developed region irrigation figured as an important problem. During the merger of backward Rayalaseema with developed Coastal Andhra, Rayalaseema insisted through the Sribagh Pact in 1937 that “to ensure the rapid development of the agricultural and economic interests of Rayalaseema and Nellore to the level of those in the coastal districts, schemes of irrigation should, for a period of ten years or such longer period as conditions may necessitate, be given a preferential claim specially in respect of the utilization of the waters of Tungabhadra, Krishna and Pennar, giving for ten years exclusive attention in respect of major projects beneficial to these areas” (Rao, 1972 p.57). Similarly, during the proposed merger of Andhra Region (AR) with Hyderabad State the issue of river waters figured again. Leaders from Telangana expressed fears more about impending social, political, economic and institutional domination over backward region by developed people of the Delta and Rayalaseema.
The Telangana Reddy leadership feared that they may be politically ruined by the Rayalaseema Reddys and the Circar Brahmins who were political pundits as there was no stopping for these forces. “Further some of the people from Telangana felt that in the then Andhra State, parochialism and casteism were rampant right from the Minister to the ordinary political worker” (Rao, 1972 p 74-75). The proponents of Visalandhra presented their expansionist regional ideology before the State Reorganization Committee (SRC) that “the formation of Visalandhra will be that the development of the Krishna and Godavari rivers will thereby be brought under unified control … complete unification of either the Krishna or the Godavari Valley is not, of course, possible. But if one independent political jurisdiction, namely that of Telangana, can be eliminated, the formulation and implementation of plans in the eastern areas in these two great river basins will be greatly expedited” (SRC Report, 372). This position of Andhra ideologues amply proves the bias over water resources belonging to Telangana.
Regional Pattern of Irrigation Land Use
An examination of the land use of Andhra Pradesh under different sources of irrigation speaks of the changing pattern of land use. In the category of Geographical area irrigated (GAI) in the state at the time of the formation of the state was 79.07 lakh acres (1955-56). This has grown over the period of four decades to the size of 1.28 crore acres (1994-95) in the state.
GAI is inclusive of area irrigated by canals, tanks, tube wells, other wells and other sources. In the category of canals the state increased its area from 31.28 lakh acres (1955-56) to 39.67 lakh acres (1994-95). The regional break up under this category shows that GAI in Telangana region increased from 8.85 per cent to 14.44 per cent over the four decades. Tank irrigation of the state shows the declining trend from the area of 26.38 lakhs in 1955-56 to 17.09 lakh acres in 1994-95.
The share of tank irrigation decreased from 41.88 per cent in 1955-56 to 31.64 per cent in 1994-95 (DES). Tank irrigation in Telangana is a vital input in the drought ecosystem and is being threatened by the irrigation policy. On the other hand, during four decades, the percentage share of tank irrigation in Andhra region increased from 58.11 per cent to 68.35 per cent.
The development of major irrigation in the river basins of Krishna and Godavari by the successive Governments of Andhra Pradesh worked in favor of Coastal Andhra. The share of river waters through major irrigation in the Krishna basin of each Telangana, Coastal Andhra and Rayalaseema is 27 per cent, 56 per cent and 17 per cent, respectively, whereas the catchment share is Telangana 69 per cent Coastal Andhra 13 per cent and Rayalaseema 17 per cent. The share of catchment of the river Godavari of Telangana and Coastal Andhra is 79 per cent and 21 per cent. However, the development of irrigation potential in the Godavari basin is only about one-third of its allocation of 1495 tmc. ft. of which developed irrigation potential is about 270 tmc ft. in Coastal Andhra and only 185 tmc ft. in Telangana (Simhadri 1996). Due to political and bureaucratic neglect of Telangana in irrigation a large quantity of the precious water drains into the Indian ocean.
Major Irrigation: An Analysis An analysis of the development of major irrigation of Telangana exposes the ruling and bureaucratic forces constituted predominantly by people of Andhra region. They operate at many levels–region, caste, class and in appropriating the water resources of the river basins of Krishna and Godavari. The regional bias is visible in all aspects of the projects. The political and bureaucratic roots of policymakers and implementers have a bearing on the concept of the project, budgetary allocation, expenditure, time frame and so on.
Historically, such an element of bias in major irrigation favored the Andhra region by denying the genuine needs of the Telangana region. This is amply substantiated by the fact that the ayacut contemplated under the Godavari anicut initially was 4.38 lakh acres which, has now gone up to 10.69 lakh acres. The ayacut contemplated under the Krishna Anicut has similarly gone up from 5.87 lakh acres to 12.65 lakh acres. So was the case with the ayacut under both the Pennar anicut at Nellore and Sangham which grew from 1.75 lakh acres to 2.5 lakhs (The Hindu).
The irrigation projects of Telangana invariably have differential performance, often with reduced storage capacities and shrinking commands. An analysis of the Sriramsagar project (SRSP) shows that the project was proposed as an Integrated Godavari Valley project by the erstwhile Hyderabad state to develop irrigation potential with 400 tmc ft. to irrigate 40 lakh acres in seven districts of Telangana. SRSP passed through various proposals of 257 tmc ft. followed by 160 tmc. ft. and ended with the construction at Pochampad with 112 tmc. ft. capacity. However, siltation caused heavy shrinkage in dead storage capacity with utilization of 86 tmc. ft. The initial contemplation of irrigated area of 40 lakh acres reduced to 16.9 lakh acres in the name of Pochampad project (SRSP) and is presently irrigating about 3.00 lakh acres by utilizing 66 tmc. ft. of water.The SRSP is to be executed in two stages by bringing areas of Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Warangal, Nalgonda districts. The canal works are yet be taken up in Warangal and Nalgonda. Lack of proper development of canals and distributaries and canal lining to contain seepages, has resulted, in the tail end farmers not been able to access water yet. The Government’s threats, through its orders, to convert wet land use to irrigated dry through localization, which is advised by the World Bank with 1:3 ratio of wet and I.D. respectively is causing restlessness among farmers. Impact of irrigation in the Deltas is manifested by water logging and salination. This doesn’t prompt the state to propose change of land use. This policy of overlooking the impact on environment arises out of the perception of the state that it would offend the powerful farming community and its fallout on state’s politics. A small change in policy may spark off an agitation which was witnessed in the recent past in Coastal Andhra on account of the proposed increase of power tariff and irrigation cess.
Nizamsagar project, the earliest major project of Hyderabad state, across the river Manjira, a tributary of the river Godavari, is also affected with siltation thereby reducing its capacity from 29.73 tmc ft. to 25 tmc ft. The area proposed to be irrigated to the tune of 2.75 lakh acres has declined to about 1.00 lakh acres. There are various other schemes developed across the river Manjira to meet the drinking and industrial water needs of the city of Hyderabad. Under the Singoor project alone about 69 villages have been submerged and this has also happened to many other projects causing suffering to people of Telangana. The land use in the basins of Manjira and Musi is subjected to the continuous surveillance thereby denying the legitimate rights to subsistence irrigation needs to the drought prone districts of Medak and Rangareddy of Telangana. Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme was contemplated with 15 tmc ft. of water to irrigate 87,000 acres in severely drought prone Mahabubnagar district of Telangana was reduced to 6.51 tmc. ft. with an irrigable area of 50,000 acres (Eenadu). The much awaited Jurala project, was proposed with 28.2 tmc ft. and it is reduced to 17.84 tmc. ft. The project was to irrigate 1.02 lakh acres but ended with giving water to just 20,000 acres in Mahabubnagar district. Many proposals of lift irrigation in Mahabubnagar including Bhima are gathering dust. These are projected by successive Governments as proposals to be taken up in the plans and annual budgets for the sake of public consumption and more damagingly to procure funds which, in reality, are not used for the purpose.
The erstwhile state of Hyderabad along with that of Madras state conceived ,an irrigation project in 1930 at Nandikonda (Rao, 1979). The area contemplated for Telangana was about 7.9 lakh acres and 2.33 lakh acres for Andhra state (CBT & B, 1965 p. 152). The area of Telangana was reduced to about six lakh acres, one lakh acres through lift irrigation by Nagarjunasagar left bank canal has been left in the shape of the plan only. But the Visalandhra ideologues down through K.L. Rao, the siphon head of irrigation bureaucracy of Andhra region, conceived large area under Nagarjuna Sagar right bank canal and today it is irrigating coastal Andhra to the tune of 13.00 lakh acres against the original plan of 2.33 lakh acres.
Although there was a proposal of Srisailam irrigation scheme for 150 tmc. ft. in Telangana in front of Bachawat Tribunal, it has not been allocated even a drop of water for irrigation in Telangana and remains as a carry over reservoir, whose evaporation losses have been compensated by Bachawat award by allotting 33 tmc ft.(KWDT, 1976). The agitation for water in Rayalaseema gave rise to the committee in the year 1983. The Government of Andhra Pradesh appointed Technical Committee under the chairmanship of Raja Rao to assess the surplus water available in Krishna river. The committee in its report in 1985, estimated 300 tmc ft. surplus water in Krishna and allocated 30 tmc ft. for Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC), 19 tmc ft. for Srisailam Right Bank Canal (SRBC), 29 tmc ft. for Telugu Ganga Project (TGP), besides the hitherto allocation of 15 tmc ft. for drinking needs of Madras (Rao, 1996). The Karnataka Government objected to surplus water as it would assume rights after 2001. However, the Government of Andhra Pradesh went ahead with the execution of TGP but left the SLBC to the confusion of confounding positions and statements. On account of the availability of more water in the river Godavari at Icchampally, some proposals were prepared under Icchampally project to irrigate through lift/gravity to the tune of 30 lakh acres and has remained at the stage of proposals.
The State’s role in the irrigation environment of Andhra Pradesh, stands exposed on various fronts. Spatially, it has shown scant attention to drought and backwardness. Historically, it manipulated the planning, budgetary and execution of irrigation projects to the advantage of Coastal Andhra. Bureaucratic institutions created hurdles to delay the approvals and revisions at different stages. While negotiating irrigation in backward regions the state delayed the allocated budgets till last minute so that funds could be diverted to favored regions. Also the bias in favor of Coastal Andhra is evident in spending extra budgetary funds, early completion of projects, modernization of project, regular and repeated drainage and flood control works , construction of balancing reservoirs doubly assure irrigation.
The River Water Controversy The major river basins of Deccan portray the irrigation scenario differently. The Krishna river paints the picture of the exhaustion of its water and the river Godavari emerges with under utilization of its water. In the light of Alamatti controversy many questions surfaced pertaining to river water sharing by riparian states / regions. The Government of Andhra Pradesh is arguing that the increase of the height of Alamatti project would prevent the early flows resulting from south west monsoon in Krishna during normal rainfall and thus result in the non availability of water for crops in kharif season in large agricultural tracts under the commands of Nagarjunasagar and Prakasam barrage. It is argued further that if there is a failure of monsoon the commands would go dry not only during kharif but also rabi season. However, it is to be mentioned that the state of Karnataka had to utilize river waters within the allocated quantity by leaving the legitimate share of waters to the state of Andhra Pradesh located in the down stream of the river Krishna. Establishment of an independent Krishna River valley Authority is therefore needed to judiciously regulate/allocate water to the needy regions in the river basin. It is noteworthy to mention here that the availability of water in the river Krishna is more in the upper reaches as huge bouts of rain water result in western ghats due to south west monsoon. On the contrary the water availability in Godavari Basin is in the lower reaches particularly at the confluence of Indravathi at Icchampally.
Interestingly the large tracts of the irrigation commands of Andhra Pradesh fall in the Coastal Andhra districts of Krishna, Guntur and Prakasam, representing the numerically and economically strong Kamma caste population which forms the backbone of Telugu Desam Party (TDP) besides providing leadership to other mainstream parties of Congress, CPI and CPI(M). The enterprising Kamma peasantry is in the forefront in absorbing innovations and technologies in agriculture. In the early part of colonial transition the farming/business community of the region readily absorbed the colonial /commercial farming techniques and gave rise to monoculturisation of agriculture. During the times of Green Revolution, the region became a natural choice for internalizing the water intensive crops with heavy, modern input-based agriculture. In fact, the historical development of irrigation in this region has come handy in embracing and accumulating the new found benefits of Green Revolution and modem development. Apart from being the theatre for modern agriculture, the region with Kamma peasantry became a launch pad for many social movements like anti-brahmin movement, nationalist movement, linguistic movement etc. With such rich inheritance the peasantry / business class of the region diversified into various fields. The peasant/businessmen expanded their base by migrating to the areas of emerging opportunities due to the merger of Hyderabad State with Andhra Region and emerged strong in urban centers, industrial nodes, irrigation tracts, mining locations, black soil belts.
The political parties representing ruling and opposition in A.P. rallied behind TDP in orchestrating a chorus against Karnataka whereas the same parties BJP, Congress etc., in Karnataka opposed the Andhra Pradesh stand on Alarnatti. Meanwhile, the questions of the water needs of the semi-desert catchments of the river Krishna in Telangana region have come to the fore. Of late the intelligentsia in Telangana raised the question of their legitimate share of Krishna water. They questioned the disproportionate utilization of Krishna waters in favor of the Coastal Andhra by converting lands of extra catchment of the river as irrigated tracts. This has given rise to the unfolding of the distribution of the waters among the riparian regions. The tribunal (Bachawat) award legitimized the over utilization of water by the Coastal Andhra at the expense of the fragile drought ecosystem of Telangana.
Politics of Irrigation Development River-centric articulation of Telangana critiques the entire gamut of development and its socio-political initiatives. Historically, particularly from medieval period onwards, the society witnessed a few initiatives in the arena of tank irrigation which in fact have provided sustenance to semi-arid living, apart from serving the treasures of feudal states. The villages with unique presence of tank as a water body across the undulating Telangana landscape suffered setback with the onset of the rule of linguistic state. The juxtapositioning of the two historically different spaces – feudal and capitalist, under linguism has not only unveiled the neo-colonial development but also rejected the existence of hitherto decentralized water conservation system.
The leadership of Telangana has seen the century long irrigational benefits in Krishna Godavari Delta. And it has also witnessed a major political mobilization in Rayalaseema around Krishna river waters during the first quarter of twentieth century which culminated in Sri Bagh pact in 1937. The development of river waters to subsist the irrigational needs of drought prone territories of Rayalaseema became the major thrust of the agreement. Although the two processes have appeared before the dominant leadership of Telangana, they did not make water resources of Krishna and Godavari rivers as a major issue with statutory safeguards during the debate on formation of Vishalandhra. They stood mute witness to the arguments of the dominant caste leadership of the developed delta region and allowed claims over waters of two rivers before the SRC.
The Telangana leadership appended signatures to the Gentlemen’s Agreement without even procuring proper statutory safeguards over the very vital and life saving river water resources belonging to the perennially drought prone territories of Telangana. Sharing of ministerial births dominated the agreement. It is callous on the part of the leadership coming from landlords to ignore the drinking and irrigational needs of the entire masses of Telangana. Perhaps, the feudal forces wanted the continuation of backwardness even after the demise of Nizam’s feudal rule. The leadership developed through anti-Nizam armed struggle in Telangana was also swayed by the Coastal Andhra leadership.
Even after the formation of Andhra Pradesh the Telangana leadership was largely constituted by landed sections of the dominant castes – Reddy, Velama, which had never demanded a rightful share of river waters. This projects the fact, although it needs substantiation, that the landed sections of the dominant caste leadership have interests in continuation of backwardness of Telangana as the development is likely to percolate down the strata which may lead to the assertion of subalterns and therefore, the likely shift of power from status quoist arrangements. It also shows that the dominant caste/class forces of both the regions have developed nexus and would only pursue the policy of underdevelopment in the backward territories of the State.
Although a large number of irrigation projects like Bhima, Devanur, Icchampalli and also extension of Tungabhadra Left Canal into Mahaboobnagar, were on the anvil on the day of the formation of the state, the linguistic state sacrificed all the projects beneficial to Telangana and concentrated on the development of major irrigation through Nagarjunasagar by altering the Nandikonda project making it beneficial to Coastal Andhra. It is often stated that the very location of Nandikonda Project site was shifted to downwards so that the territories located in the higher elevations in Nalgonda and Khammam districts would not figure in the irrigational map. There was no protest registered by the Telangana leadership. If all the projects contemplated before the formation of state were to be executed the share of Krishna river water for Telangana would have increased manifold. The exploitative acts of Andhra rulers on the river water front had caused greater damage to the river water needs of Telangana.
In fact, the A.P. irrigation policy with an emphasis on major irrigation at the instance of Andhra leadership, coming from alluvial plains where tank irrigation is largely insignificant, has given rise to uneven development/irrigation policy of the regions with two different irrigation systems resulted in trying to eliminate the age old water conservation systems with chains of tank networks instead of taking up the complementary development. After the formation of the linguistic state, the government successfully ignored the maintenance and development of tanks land, allowed them to become unproductive through siltation, breaching etc to become advantageous to the down stream deltas by way of allowing the rain water to pass through the streams and rivulets.
Whatever little initiative has gone into tank irrigation has only facilitated the emergence of contractor class which gained enormously with brokerage and political employment. In fact there should have been an irrigation policy to renew tank, minor and medium irrigation by supplementing major irrigation as both the rivers pass through Telangana carrying heavy flows from the upper reaches. Therefore, the water bodies would have lessened the impact of drought and also the occurrence of drought.
At the instance of global powers and international institutions, the state is reformulating its irrigation policy. The elements of privatization through raising bonds are creeping into the policy making. The state is increasingly shedding its responsibility by assigning the irrigation to the Water Users Associations. This is again a step in the direction of privatization. Such acts of state only aggravate the already existing inequalities in the sphere of irrigation and agrarian economy and manifest sharply in the uneven regional development and exacerbation of drought and famine conditions in Telangana.
The developmental initiatives from the 1960s onwards in the form of Green Revolution have brought in new varieties of rice which are dependent on intensive inputs like water and chemical fertilizers and pesticides. In the absence of the surface water availability, the farmers are forced to go for borewell technology to draw subsurface water from greater depths which has resulted in uprooting of traditional water drawing technique which are sustainable and nature friendly. The borewells have also exerted pressure on the electrification as this is the only way of drawing water from tube well. Therefore the heavy boring of semi-arid surfaces and also the increase of electrification of pumpsets have given rise to the depletion of hydrological regime. Many bore wells are getting dried up at the instance of extensive pumping of water which resulted in the breaking down of the economy and causing serious unrest among the farmers of Telangana. The recurring drought was aided and abetted with hostile technology and water intensive commercial farming and the absence of surface water conservation development contributed to the complexity of life in Telangana and therefore, the process of marginalisation, migration and desertification.
Today drought is manifested in every facet of human life and it is particularly so with rural poor. The impact of drought is also experienced by animal and green cover. The fast depletion of grazing lands and also the non-availability of fodder are forcing the farmer to sell the cattle for slaughter. The exodus of people from rural areas has only made the living vulnerable. This has also proliferated the squatter settlements and slums in urban areas. The unabated migration that is going on from Coastal lands into Hyderabad for greater profits is also exerting pressure on services and infrastructure. Musi and Manjira rivers traverse the semi-arid lands of Rangareddy, Nalgonda, Medak and Nizamabad districts of Telangana. However, the large quantities of water from these rivers are diverted to subsist the industrial, drinking and other needs of Hyderabad. Otherwise, the rivers would have supplemented the water needs in these districts. Although some lands of Telangana were brought under major irrigation projects, a great number of Kamma peasantry migrated to the newly developed commands and displaced locals from land. The irrigation to wet the lands of local farmers in Telangana is also significantly cornered by migrant enterprising farmers of delta Andhra.
Conclusion
Irrigation politics in A.P. exposed the state’s true colours of caste, class, regional bias and its machinations to promote their interests. The people of semi-arid regions in the face of monopolisation by entrenched interests are left with no option excepting constantly mobilising on regional, caste, class, resource fronts to fight against the man-made semi-arid environment of Telangana. People’s articulation for democratising water resources is a natural corollary of this situation.
Geographically, Telangana is a part of Deccan plateau bounded by Godavari Pranahita rivers in the north and Krishna river in the South. In addition to these two major rivers there are several minor river basins which traverse the length and breadth of Telangana.
Agriculture is the main occupation of over 75 per cent of the population, therefore, any development model for Telangana should focus on agricultural development. The success of agriculture mainly depends on providing irrigation facilities. The importance of irrigation is known historically and all the benevolent kingdoms of past have tried their best to create as many irrigation facilities as possible for the benefit of the people. The Kakatiya kings have done pioneering work in 13th century by constructing small and medium sized water storage reservoirs in the topographically undulating area of Deccan plateau. These water storages provided irrigation facilities to thousands of acres of cultivable lands. There were hundreds of such storages notable among them being Ramappa, Lakhnavaram, Pakhal and Ghanpur Lakes, which even today are functioning and stand as our proud heritage.
Historically, Telangana region was part of Hyderabad dominion, ruled by the Nizams of Asafjahi dynasty. The Hyderabad State comprised Telangana, Marathwada and part of Karnataka. The State which had three distinct languages was ruled by the Nizams up to September 1948.
The Nizam Government also encouraged the construction of minor irrigation storages to provide water to and lands. At the beginning of this century, the available statistics indicate that there were 21,000 small tanks providing irrigation facilities to 8,80,000 acres.
Development of Water Resources in Hyderabad State.
The rulers of Hyderabad State realised the importance of water resources development from the second decade of this century. Ali Nawaz Jung, an engineer of Nizam prepared a comprehensive water resources development plan for the exploitation of vast water potential available in the major river basins of Godavari and Krishna. In 1920’s, the tributaries of major rivers were tackled by constructing several medium sized irrigation projects, the notable among them being Pocharam, Dindi, Palair, Wyra, Manair and anicuts at Ghanpur on Manjira and Khanapur on Godavari.
As a first step towards the development of major irrigation systems, a major irrigation project was planned on river Manjira by proposing the construction of 140 feet high dam and a storage reservoir with huge canal system to, provide irrigation facilities to 2,75,000 acres. The masonry dam was one of highest in India at that point of time and it was designed and constructed by the Hyderabad engineers. The construction of dam was started in 1924 and completed in 193 1. The project was inaugurated by the Nizam of Hyderabad and named as Nizamsagar Project. The canal system and other infrastructure such as roads and communication were completed in subsequent years. The project provided irrigation facilities for two crops in an year and also provided irrigation facilities to 20,000 acres of sugar cane crop. As a result a sugar factory at Bodhan was established with crushing capacity of 2500 tones, one of the largest sugar factories of Asia at that time. The Nizamsagar project was constructed to utilise 58 tmc of Manjira waters. The Nizamabad district became the most prosperous district of Hyderabad State on account of Nizamsagar Project.
Godavari river being the largest river flowing through the state, a major multipurpose project was proposed for irrigation and hydroelectric power development. The project proposals envisaged the construction of high dam across Godavari near Pochampad and Godavari north canal on the left and Godavari South canal on the right to benefit 20 lakhs of acres for irrigation in Adilabad district from the north canal and Karimnagar, Warangal, Khammam and Nalgonda districts from the south canal. The project provided for utilisation of 330 tmc of Godavari waters. In addition as a part of the project the reservoir on Kadam forming the part of North canal and Lower Manair dam reservoir forming the part of South canal were also included in the project. The stage I of the project comprising infrastructure such as approach roads, buildings at the main project site and Godavari North canal and a dam on Kadam river were sanctioned. The works were grounded and were in progress.
A project across river Manjira, upstream of Nizamsagar at a place near Devanur was also proposed to provide irrigation benefits in Manjira valley in Medak district by utilising 38 tmc of water. The two hydroelectric power stations one at the dam site and one on the power canal, which provided additional supplies to Nizamsagar, were also included in the project. The work on the approach roads and camp buildings was started and land acquisition proceedings for the dam and reservoir were initiated.
Krishna river being the second largest river of the state, the development of water resources by construction of projects was commenced from 1948. First the construction of dam on Tungabhadra near Hospet was started in 1948 as joint venture between Hyderabad and Mysore Governments. The left canal envisaged irrigation in Raichur and Mahaboobnagar districts of Hyderabad State. The dam and most of the canal system was completed by 1956, except the last leg of canal benefiting Mahaboobnagar district, which envisaged water utilisation of 19.20 tmc. Due to states reorganisation the entire project went to Karnataka and extension of canal into Mahaboobnagar district was stopped.
The construction of Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme was taken up on river Tungabhadra and the head works and canals were mostly completed by 1956, but due to States reorganisation, the head works and part of the canal went to Karnataka and most of the canal came to Telangana to benefit 84,000 acres in Mahaboobnagar district, by utilising 15.90 tmc of water.
The investigation was completed and project reports were prepared for upper Krishna and Bheema Projects which envisaged the utilisation of 54.40 tmc and 100.60 tmc, respectively, for the benefit of Mahaboobnagar district. These projects were committed and approved but not grounded.
The Hyderabad State engineers started the investigation of a major project on the river Krishna and detailed project reports were prepared at two sites namely Yeleshwaram and Nandikonda after studying various alternatives. The project as finalised provided for utilisation of 132 tmc of Krishna waters for the benefit of 10 lakh acres in Nalgonda and Khammam districts. The Hyderabad Government approved the project with only left canal and the entire planning, investigation and designs were completed for the Nandikonda site since the Madras Government was not interested at this site as they had already proposed the Krishna-Pennar project from an upper location to take water to Madras State. In fact this was one of the main reasons for the Andhras to start a big agitation which finally resulted in formation of Andhra State. It is only when separate Andhra State was formed in October, 1953, that on their request, the Nandikonda (named as Nagarjuna Sagar) project was made a joint project between Hyderabad State and Andhra State and an agreement was signed in 1954 for equal sharing of 132 tmc for left canal and 132 tmc for right canal. The Nagarjuna Sagar project was inaugurated in 1955 by the Prime Minister of India Shri Jawaharlal Nehru and the execution was taken up. A joint Control Board was set up to implement the project proposals as agreed by both the states.
It is very clear from these events that the Hyderabad Government had planned in a big way for the optimum utilisation of huge water potential of Godavari and Krishna rivers for the benefit of people of Telangana and to provide extensive irrigation facilities to the farmers of Telangana area.
Water Potential of Telangana
The broad position as on l- I l- 1956, in respect of the water resources utilised and committed for utilisation for irrigation in Telangana area is given below.
Godavari Valley
A: Water utilisation under completed projects
I.. Major Projects
1. Nizamsagar Project 58.00 tmc
2. Medium Irrigation Projects 21.70 tme
3. Minor Irrigation Schemes 21.00 tmc
Total 100.70 tmc
B: Projects committed and under construction
I. Major Projects
1. Godavari Valley-multipurpose project 330.00 tmc
2. Kadam Project 15.00 tmc
3. Lower Manair Dam Project 12.00 tmc
4. Devanur Project 38.00 tmc
Total 395.00 tmc
C: Projects Investigated
1. Icchampally Project 350.00 tmc
Godavari Valley Total 845.70 tmc
Krishna Valley
A: Water utilisation under completed Projects
I. Major Irrigation
1. Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme 15.90 tmc
2. Medium Irrigation Projects. 36.10 tmc
3. Minor Irrigation Scheme 90.80 tmc
Total 142.80 tmc
B. Projects in Progress
1. Nagarjuna Sagar left canal 132.00 tmc
2. Tungabhadra Project left canal extension 19.00 tmc
Total 151.20 tmc
C. Projects Investigated
1. Upper Krishna Project 54.40 tmc
2; Bheema Project 100.00 tmc
Total 155.00 tmc
Krishna Valley Total 449.00 tme
State Reorganization
With the States reorganisation in November 1956 when Telangana was made part of the enlarged state of Andhra Pradesh, the real problem of the development of water resources started and all the major irrigation projects planned and programmed for implementation in Telangana area suffered serious set-backs. The Godavari and Krishna river basins got trifurcated, the sharing of water by respective regions became inter-state problem. The States Reorganisation Act clearly provided that all the projects which are grounded and committed for implementation before the states reorganisation should not be stopped and the rights of the people benefiting from such projects were protected under the Constitution. But unfortunately the Government of Andhra Pradesh did not take any action and on the contrary created obstacles in the implementation of the projects benefiting Telangana area. This also suited their interests, since the amounts earmarked for Telangana projects could easily be diverted to the projects benefiting the Andhra area. The Telangana leaders and ministers never took any interest in projecting the claims of Telangana projects and to safeguard the rights accrued on account of States Reorganisation Act.
The result was the immediate stoppage of Godavari Valley multipurpose, project, abandoning of Devanur project and no negotiating with Karnataka for the extension of Thungabhadra left canal, already sanctioned and under execution.
Irrigation development in Telangana was practically at standstill for seven years from 1956 to 1963. During this period no irrigation project in Godavari valley was taken up on the pretext of inter-state water dispute. After several representations by the people and some of the leaders of Telangana, quoting extensively from the S.R. Act, the then Irrigation Minister, Government of India issued an order permitting utilisation of just 67 tmc of water at Pochampad by construction of low dam in 1963, for irrigation of 5,70,000 acres in Karimnagar district. The foundation stone was laid in July 1963, but the budget allocation was almost negligible. For a project the cost of which was estimated at Rs 40 crores, the annual allotment was Rs.50 takhs. This went on for 6 years till 1969, and only when the agitation for separate Telangana State took a serious turn, the A.P. Government enhanced the allotment to the project.
This is just a sample illustration of happenings in one project and there are similar stories in respect of all the projects of Telangana.
Godavari River Basin
The Godavari river has its catchment area in five states of Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka and Orissa. A dispute arose among various states on sharing of Godavari river waters. The Government of India, under its Constitutional powers, appointed a tribunal under the chairmanship of Justice Bachawat. The Godavari Water Dispute Tribunal in its final award only ratified and pronounced that various agreements reached between different states as final and binding for the states. A.P. authorities blindly signed the agreement without even looking into its contents. Andhra Pradesh in fact agreed to give whatever the Maharashtra or Karnataka wanted and did not even put up a token claim to safeguard the existing utilisation of Telangana projects in. Godavari Valley and future requirements of Telangana Projects.
The G.W.D.T. permitted Andhra Pradesh to utilise to the extent of 1480 tmc of water, based on 75 per cent dependability.
The broad distribution of water is given below
I: Existing projects and projects under construction 680 tmc
II. Future Projects to be taken up 800 tmc
Total 1480 tmc
I. Existing Projects Telangana 1. Nizamsaar Project 58.00 tmc
2. Kadam Project 11.60 tmc
3. Sriram Sagar Project (Stage 1) 140.27 tmc
4. Singur/Manjira Water supply scheme 15.99 tmc
5. Medium Irrigation Projects 48.44 tmc
6. Minor Irrigation Schemes 85.70 tmc
Total 360.00 tmc
Andhra
1. Dowleshwaram Project 263.60 tmc
2. Medium Irrigation Projects 14.60 tmc
3. Minor Irrigation Schemes 41.80 tmc
Total 320.00 tmc
Total for existing schemes 680.00 tmc
The dependable water available for future projects is 800 tmc. The water allocation should normally be made considering the catchment which contributes to the river system and cultivable area available for irrigation in the basin. The catchment area of Telangana is 61,780 sq miles (79 per cent ) and the catchment of Andhra is 16,420 sq.kms (21 per cent ). The cultivable land of Telangana in Godavari basin is 25.2 lakhs hectares and in Andhra 10.7 lakh hectares, which form 70 per cent and 30 per cent, respectively. If both or either of the above criteria is applied the water allocation to Telangana and Andhra to be in the ratio of 70 per cent and 30 per cent of 1,480 tmc which works out to 1,036 tmc and 44.4 tmc. The Andhra has already used 320 tmc, and the balance it can claim is only 124 tmc. But the Andhra Pradesh government without considering any basis has earmarked 405 tmc to Andhra future projects, the Polavaram alone getting a share of 4-5 tmc. In all fairness, from out of the unutilised waters of 800 tmc, the Telangana future projects should be allotted at least 560 tmc and 240 tmc can be given to Andhra future projects.
Shortfall in Utilisation
The review of utilisation with regard to the completed and under construction projects of Telangana show considerable shortfall as indicated below :
S.No. Project Allotted quantity Present utilisation Shortfall
I . Nizamsagar Project 58.00 tmc 33.00 tmc 25.00 tmc
II . Kadam Project 11.00 tmc 9.50 tmc 2.10 tmc
III . SRSP (Stage1)Project 140.27 tmc 65.10 tmc 75.17 tmc
IV . Medium Projects 48.43 tmc 34.60 tmc 13.83 tmc
TOTAL 258.30 tmc 142.10 tmc 116.10 tmc
The shortfall is mainly due to inadequate allotment of funds and diversion of allotted amounts to other projects. The SRSP (Stage 1) started in July 1963 is still not fully completed even after 33 years.
Even it all on going irrigation projects of Telangana are completed in Godavari Valley, the total irrigated area will be only 7.10 lakh hectares out of the total cultivable area of 25.20 lakh hectares, which is just 28 per cent whereas in Andhra area the existing percentage of irrigated area to cultivable area in Godavari valley districts is 56.50 per cent.
Krishna River Basin
The Krishna river originating from Mahabaleshwar in Western Ghats traverses 1,280 km through the states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh before it joins Bay of Bengal. It enters Telangana first, covers maximum distance. Telangana contributes 68.50 per cent of its catchment area as against 31.50 per cent from Andhra area. The Hyderabad State envisaged the utilisation of 459 tmc of Krishna waters for the benefit of Telangana area to irrigate vast tracts of lands in drought prone districts of Mahaboobnagar, Nalgonda and Khammam. Out of which the projects for 294 tmc were either completed or were in progress.
The Krishna water dispute tribunal assessed the availability of water in Krishna river as 2060 tmc at 75 per cent dependability and allotted 800 tmc to Andhra Pradesh. The allotment to Telangana was 266.83 tmc, Andhra 500.17 tmc and Srisailam reservoir losses 33.00 tmc. The Telangana requirements were completely overlooked. The allotment to Nagarjuna Sagar is 106.20 tmc against the requirement of 132 tmc; only 17.84 tmc was allotted to Jurala project on Krishna as an alternative to upper Krishna project extension (54.40 tmc) and Bhima Project (100.7 tmc). So the loss to Telangana in water-allocation due to States Reorganisation on account of these two projects alone is (155.10 minus 17.84) 137.26 tmc.
The main reason for such reduced allocation to Telangana projects is due to lack of proper presentation by the A.P. Government to the Tribunal for safeguarding the interests of Telangana area. On the contrary Nagarjuna Sagar Project benefiting the Andhra area got an allotment of 174.80 tmc, and the Srisailam reservoir which was included as a new project, basically a balancing reservoir, got 33 tmc as evaporation losses. The shocking part of it is that even the allotted 106.20 tmc under Nagarjunasagar left canal for Telangana area was reduced by manipulation of levels and alignment of the left canal during the stage of design and execution. This resulted in actual utilisation coming down to 89 tmc. In effect the Nagarajuna Sagar project first started by the Hyderabad Government for utilisation of 132 tmc to Telangana area came down to 89 tmc; a loss of 43 tmc due to formation of Andhra Pradesh.
Krishna Surplus Waters
The Tribunal allotted 800 tmc to A.P. out of dependable flow of 2060 tmc. However Tribunal allowed the Andhra Pradesh, being a terminal state, to utilise surplus waters over and above the allotted quantity without acquiring any right, on such utilisation until the time of next review in 2000 A.D.
There were a number of meetings on this issue and it was agreed by various parties representing Andhra and Telangana that the surplus waters should be used equally for the projects of both regions. To start with it was agreed to take up the following two projects from each region:
Andhra Area
1. Telugu Ganga project for utilising 29 tmc
2. Srisailam right bank canal for utilising 10 tmc
Telangana Area
1. Srisailam left bank canal for utilising 30 tmc
2. Bheema lift irrigation scheme for utilising 20 tmc
But in practice the above two projects of Andhra area were taken up and are in progress from the last 13 years and an amount of over Rs 1200 crores have been spent till now. They are commissioned whereas neither of the two Telangana projects has seen any progress. As an eyewash the Srisailam left bank canal project was put on ground by executing canal part of the work, without even attempting final identification of source of supply. A controversy was created whether to get the water to Srisailam by tunnel or to lift water from Nagarjuna Sagar reservoir. There is no decision on this from the last 13 years, and since 2000 A.D. is just three years away, there is no possibility of this project being taken up and completed. The Bheema lift irrigation scheme is still in cold storage.
Irrigation in Krishna Basin
The catchment area of Krishna from Telangana is 51,628 sq.km (68.50 per cent) and whereas the catchment from Andhra is 23,741 sq.km (31.50 per cent). The water allocation for Telangana is 266.83 tmc (37.50 per cent) and the allocation for Andhra is 500. 17 tmc (62.50 per cent). The cultivable area of Telangana in Krishna basin is 22.40 lakh hectares. The total irrigated area from all the irrigation projects is 5.38 lakh hectares which is about 24 per cent. In Ranga Reddy district it is 9.76 per cent, Mahaboobnagar 14.27 per cent, Nalgonda 21.68 per cent and Khammam 33.07 per cent. But the percentage of area irrigated by Krishna waters in Andhra area is 76.72 per cent in Krishna district and 63.10 per cent in Guntur district.
Telangana: Irrigation Disparity
The Telangana region which has a cultivable area of 47.60 lakh hectares will have an assured irrigation facility of only 8.57 lakh hectares with all the existing projects and on completion of all the ongoing major and medium irrigation projects. The overall percentage of assured irrigation to total cultivable area is 18 per cent, which is the lowest by any standard. This vast irrigational disparity, in spite of having considerable water potential, is mainly due to the deliberate neglect by all the Governments which were in power from I- 11-56, to deprive the benefits of irrigation to Telangana farmers and to keep the economy of the region backward. Today Telangana is one of the most under-developed and economically backward regions in India. This is primarily due to the setback it received in the development of irrigated agriculture. A study conducted in the command areas of various irrigation projects in different parts of the country has shown that the income levels of farmers in post irrigated period have improved by 5 to 7 times generally and in some instances the increase is up to 14 times. One can imagine how much damage has been done to the economy of Telangana as whole in the last 40 years when the region was deprived of a water utilisation of 472 tmc, which could have provided irrigation to about 19 lakh. hectares of cultivable lands.
Future of Irrigation in Telangana
Naturally every one is upset and wonders whether is it possible to do any thing in future with such a huge backlog and damage inflicted on the water front.
There is always hope, provided the people of Telangana as a whole take up this issue seriously and make a united effort to tackle the problem. The normal method of submitting petitions and memoranda may not solve the issue. Everybody interested should sit together and do some serious thinking and adopt a very bold and innovative approach in selecting the projects and continuously fighting for their sanction, implementation and completion.
The Telangana region, being a part of Deccan plateau is in a disadvantageous position, as regards gravity flow irrigation. Since most of the water which it could have got has been deprived and taken away due to political and regional considerations, the cultivable area of Telangana is in-between the contours of + 300 and + 2000 ft. The water availability as on today in these elevations is very limited. Therefore, any future irrigation development of Telangana should have much greater lift irrigation component. Where the flow irrigation potential is still available it could be fully used.
New Irrigation Projects proposed for Telangana
Name of Project Water Utilization Ayacut (in hectares) Districts benefited
Ia. Flow Irrigatioin Projects(Major)
Sriramsagar (Stage 11) 69.80 2,80,000 Warangal, Khammam ;Nalgonda
Penganga Project 12.00 48,000 Adilabad (Joint venture with Govt.of Maharashtra)
Pedda Vanglada 8.40 33,000 Adilabad
Srisailani left bank canal 30.00 1,20,000 Nalgonda
1b. Flow Irrigation Projects(medium)
Ten medium irrigation Projects 16.50 66.000 Nizamabad Adilabad & Khammam
Total Flow Irrigation Projects 136.70 5,47,000
II. Lift Irrigation Projects
Pranahita lift irrigation scheme 12.00 48,000 Adilabad
Bheema lift irrigation scheme 20.00 80,000 Mahaboobnagar
Jurala lift irrigation@scherne 18.00 72,000 -do-
Icchampally left irrigation project 350.00 14,00,000 Warangal Karimnagar Khammam, Medak Ranga Ready, Mahaboobnagar
Total of lift irrigation schemes 400.00 16,00,000
All the above projects are important and should be taken up without any further delays. However I will make a special mention of one project on which depends the future prosperity of Telangana.
Icchampally Lift Irrigation Project
The Godavari river has huge water potential only after its confluence with Indravati. The Icchampally site on Godavari is after the above confluence. A major multipurpose project was planned and investigated by the Hyderabad Government before 1955. The reservoir level was originally fixed at + 410 ft. level, which was reduced to + 370 ft. level. The project was proposed as joint venture with Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh. The sharing of irrigation and power benefits were contemplated to different states. But the reservoir formation results in several serious problems. It will submerge 2,70,00 acres of land which includes 54,900 acres of prime reserved forest in three states. It also submerges 148 villages with a population of 90,000, most of them being tribals. The project report has been prepared and sent to Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Government of India. The Governments of Maharashtra and Madhya Pradesh have not agreed for the Project and have expressed their unwillingness for any submergence in their states. The Government of India has rejected the project altogether as unacceptable due to environmental problem and has advised the state government to drop the reservoir proposal. There is no hope of reservoir project materialising in future. Telangana development is closely linked with the utilisation of available Godavari waters at Icchampally. Therefore, an alternative project is proposed to be called “Icchampally Lift Irrigation Project”.
1. The construction of Barrage (Low Dam) across river Godavari at Icchampally site with water level of the pond at + 300.00 ft. At this level of + 300.00 ft. there will be no submergence of any land, forest or a village, and the water is stored only with in the river margins.
2. The lifting of 350 tmc of water from Icchampally Barrage to various locations in Telangana area by installing suitable pumping stations, to provide irrigation facilities to 14 lakh hectares of and lands in seven districts of Telangana.
3. The laying, of pumping mains from the Barrage site to intermediate storage reservoir, the first of such reservoir being, Pakhal Lake in Warangal district.
4. Lifting of water from Pakhal Lake to Hanamkonda and laying of pumping mains.
5. Distribution system to provide irrigation facilities to upland areas of Warangal and Khammam districts.
6. The laying of pipeline from Hanamkonda to Lower Manair Dam.
7. Lifting water from lower Manair Dam to provide irrigation to the upland areas of Karimnagar and Medak districts.
8. Pumping and gravity mains from Hanamkonda to Shamirpet lake near Hyderabad.
9. Provide irrigation to Jangoan, Bhongir and Ramannapet areas of Warangal and Nalgonda districts.
10. Laying pumping main from Shamirpet lake to Haldi Project reservoir in Medak.
11. Providing irrigation facilities to Gajwel, Medchal and Sangareddy areas of Medak and Ranga Reddy Districts.
12. Laying pumping and gravity mains to Himayatsagar and Osman Sagar reservoirs near Hyderabad City.
13. Provide drinking water to the city and irrigation to the areas in R.R. district.
14. Laying of gravity and pumping mains from Himayatsagar to Makhtal Mahaboobnagar district.
15. Providing irrigation to and areas of Mahaboobnagar district.
16. The overall project proposal includes the improvements to various existing storages where necessary and forming new storages where essential for balancing purposes.
17. The water distribution system comprises of open canals, piped supply lines, sprinkling irrigation systems and drip irrigation systems, depending on the area, levels and topography.
18. The usage of water will be in most economical way by using all the modern methods of water management and crop water requirements. The project outlined above is feasible and essential for the development of Telangana.
A detailed and comprehensive project preparation is necessary. The government may not have the necessary. manpower and expertise to prepare a project of this type and magnitude.
A consortium of experts comprising of civil engineers, irrigation experts, power engineers, agricultural experts, economists and social workers will have to be formed to study the detailed aspects and prepare a project report.
Conclusion
Different organisations working for the development of Telangana should take up all the issues raised in this paper and work unitedly till the goal is achieved