Hyderabad: In a historic moment, Andhra Pradesh government has linked the mighty Godavari and Krishna rivers. Since September 1, water from Godavari was being released from Tatipudi lift irrigation project in West Godavari district into the Polavaram project's right main canal. On September 15, the Godavari water, after flowing for 174 km, will reach Prakasam barrage.
“We started releasing the water on September 1. About 450 to 500 cusecs was released intermittently as and when surplus water was available after meeting the requirements of the Tatipudi’s ayacut. This water has reached 124 km in the Polavaram canal and has crossed into Krishna delta in Nuzvid of Krishna district. By September 14 or 15, about 26,000 cusecs will flow into the Prakasam barrage. This was a trial run to see how the newly built Polavaram canal works, speed of water flow etc,’’ Indira Sagar Polavaram project right main canal (ISRMC) superintending engineer Srinivas Yadav said.
A trial run for the upcoming Pattiseem lift irrigation project which aims to link Godavari with Krishna basin and provide water to drought prone Rayalaseema region, this project also expects to ease the pressure on Srisailam dam. “Polavaram dam, from where water can be supplied to Krishna basin, will take another 4-5 years to be ready. What we have done in the meanwhile is using Polavaram project’s canal we have diverted Godavari water from an existing dam into the Krishna basin. Every year about 3,000 TMC of Godavari water flows into the Bay of Bengal while there is hardly enough water in the Krishna. If we can harness even 200 to 300 TMC and divert it to Krishna basin then it can be pumped to Rayalaseema where all the reservoirs, tanks and lakes can be filled up. This interlinking through Pattiseema project will help drought-proof the state and we won’t face water shortage even if rains are not good in a particular year,’’ Parkala Prabhakar, Advisor to AP CM, said.
