Uttam Kumar Reddy to visit Medigadda, inspect damage, might bring Pranahita-Chevella to fore

HYDERABAD: Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N Uttam Kumar Reddy will be visiting the Medigadda Barrage in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district on December 29 along with Irrigation and CAD Department officials.

“Myself and other ministers are visiting Medigadda barrage to inspect the damage. We may also visit Annaram and Sundilla Barrages. We have asked the E in C to give us a PowerPoint presentation on-site on the damage to above barrages and also give us an overview of the Kaleshwaram project,” he said in a statement on Tuesday.

The team would watch the presentation prepared by the irrigation officials highlighting the cost of the project and the accrued benefits in the shape of stabilisation of existing ayacut and creation of new ayacut. The Minister would also be bringing out the issue of the maintenance cost of the project and the huge power bill if all the components of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) were to be operated. The annual cost of electrifying the project was estimated at Rs 4,06,740 lakh at the time of construction of the project.

The Irrigation Minister also urged the officials to invite all the contractors, and sub-contractors involved in the construction of the project to Medigadda so that they would be made a part of the action to be initiated to either repair the sagging pier of the Medigadda Barrage or to undertake repairs to the Annaram and Sundilla Barrages that showed some kind of sand boiling at their foundations.

Why re-engineer Pranahita?

The Congress argued the BRS Government scrapped the Pranahita-Chevella project in the name of re-engineering only to enhance project cost and make money. The Congress leaders pointed out that the project site at Tummidihatti would have been suitable for the barrage as the Medigadda site was sandy and was not suitable to sustain a major Barrage like Medigadda later christened by K Chandrashekar Rao as Lakshmi.

The Congress Government made its intentions amply clear by naming the KLIP as a white elephant and would not be of any use to the farmers as the three main barrages were to be emptied even if the Government decided to undertake repairs.

The then Congress Government in the erstwhile State of Andhra Pradesh in its Detailed Project Report (DPR) of Pranahita-Chevella mentioned that the availability of water at Tummadihatti was 273.14 TMC. However, the Central Water Commission (CWC) later estimated that the availability was only 165 TMC.

After BRS came to power in the new State, it submitted a DPR for KLIP to the CWC estimating a total availability of water from Pranahita, Wardha, Penganga, Maneru, and Godavari sub-basin at 282.3 TMC at Medigadda. The new proposal to build the KLIP at Medigadda was approved by the CWC which through its engineers estimated the availability of water at 284.3 TMC.

Cost Benefit analysis

The BRS Government after deciding to undertake the project at Medigadda instead of Tummadihatti adhered to the Central Irrigation Project principle of a 1.5:1 ratio for revenue earned to cost incurred, meaning that a revenue of Rs 1.5 for every Rs 1 spent on the project. However, there was also an argument that the ratio should not be applied to lift irrigation projects, whose fixed costs are much higher compared to conventional projects. After much debate, the earnings for every single rupee spent on KLIP was pegged at Rs 1.55.

Revenue to Cost Ratio (In Lakhs)

Annual revenue after KLIP: Rs 1613841.60

Annual revenue before KLIP: Rs 54321.39

Annual net income: Rs 1559520

Value of drinking water: Rs 169884

Value of water to industries: Rs 407721.60

Fisheries: Rs 15000

Annual total net income: Rs 2152125.81

Annual Expenditure

Interest in capital investment10% : Rs 804997.10

Depreciation 1%: Rs 80499.71

Annual project maintenance: Rs 11082.76

Depreciation on pumps and motors: Rs 81878.60

Depreciation on pipelines: Rs 7112.75

Annual power bill: Rs 406740

Annual project cost: Rs 1392310.92

Benefit to cost: 1.55

The BRS Government argued in favour of starting the KLIP from Medigadda as the lift component was also an integral part of the Pranahita-Chevella at Tummadihatti. The Congress-planned project also had a 40-metre lift to overcome the terrain problem.