The Revanth Reddy government, which has been making allegations that the entire project has collapsed and is useless and has not repaired Medigadda and other barrages, has recently started renovating the barrages.
Engineering officials have categorically stated that the construction of the barrage at Tammi Dihati and the diversion of water as per the specified targets are impossible, and farmers are facing severe criticism for not providing full water during the Rabi season for the last two years.
In this context, the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government has finally focused on the repairs of Medigadda. It has issued a notification for EOC (Expressions of Interest) from design consultancies. Telangana has a share of 968 TMC in Godavari. Of this, even 200 TMC could not be utilized by the time of state formation.
On the other hand, the already constructed projects like SSRC, Kadem etc. were silted up. As a result, Telangana lost 50 TMC of water storage capacity in Godavari. In this context, the only solution to fully utilize the state’s share in Godavari is Pranahitha waters.
However, Maharashtra did not agree to the construction of a barrage with a 152-meter FRL (full reservoir level) at Tammidihati, and on the other hand, there was a situation where the proposed 160 TMC of water was not available after Maharashtra’s consumption upstream.
This was revealed by the CWC itself. In the end, Maharashtra agreed to construct a barrage with only 148 FRL. If a barrage is constructed at that level, a maximum of 44 TMC can be diverted from Tammi Dihati. In this context, former CM KCR brainstormed. He had a long discussion with engineers on the Pranahita Chevella project.
The project was redesigned to fully utilize Telangana’s share in Godavari. Pranahita Chevella was divided into two projects. Dr. BR Ambedkar limited the Wardha project to Adilabad district only. The barrage location was changed from Tammidihati to Medigadda and named it Kaleshwaram project. Plans were made so that Telangana could fully utilize its water share in Godavari.