Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation "EMPOWER IAS"

News:

• The National Green Tribunal (NGT) wants a relook at Kaleshwaram Project since the Telangana government subsequently changed the design of the project.

 

About Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation:

• The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme of Telangana is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhupalpally, Telangana.
• The project starts at the confluence point of Pranahita River and Godavari River.
• Originally called Pranahita-Chevella project in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, it was redesigned, extended and renamed as Kaleshwaram project in Telangana in 2014.

 

Benefits of the Project

• It would bring drinking water and irrigation to the backward areas of Telangana.
• It will also help to restore the ground water level to its original state by the way of shifting from usage of groundwater for irrigation to usage of surface water.
• The project will also support Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha schemes designed to provide drinking water to many villages and improve the capacities of tanks.

 

Issues raised by NGT:

• The NGT has observed that the Telangana government subsequently changed the design of the project to increase its capacity.
• By increasing its capacity to pump 3 TMC water from 2 TMC, large tracts of forest land and other land was taken over and massive infrastructure was built causing adverse impact on the environment.
• Extraction of more water certainly requires more storage capacity and also affects hydrology and riverine ecology of Godavari River.
• Such issues have to be examined by the statutory authorities concerned.