Hyderabad: Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy urged Chhattisgarh to issue the pending Sammakka Sagar NOC at the earliest. He said the clearance would allow Telangana to store water up to the barrage’s Full Reservoir Level.
Uttam Kumar Reddy met Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai in New Delhi on September 3. During the meeting, he sought the neighbouring State’s cooperation in resolving issues related to the project. The barrage was officially known as the Sammakka Sagar Project and was also referred to as the Sammakka Sarakka barrage.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the clearance would help Telangana achieve the project’s intended irrigation benefits. Moreover, he assured Chhattisgarh that Telangana would meet the full compensation requirement arising from submergence.
The Minister said Telangana would compensate for land and houses affected in Chhattisgarh due to the project. He also expressed the State’s readiness to work with Chhattisgarh to settle the pending issues.
“Telangana will pay full compensation for the land and houses that will be submerged in Chhattisgarh. We request the State government to issue the NOC at the earliest to enable us to store water fully in the barrage,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.
Sammakka Sagar NOC crucial for planned storage
The Sammakka Sagar barrage was constructed across the Godavari at Tupakulagudem in Kannaigudem mandal of Mulugu district. The structure measured 1,143 metres in length and had 59 radial gates.
The project had a designed storage capacity of 6.94 TMC at an FRL of +83 metres. In addition, planners envisaged diverting 46.96 TMC of Godavari water through the project for irrigation purposes.
Its principal objective was to stabilise irrigation across 4.40 lakh acres covered by Stage-II of the Sriram Sagar Project. Water availability from the original source had remained inadequate for this command area.
The project also envisaged providing irrigation to a fresh ayacut of 30,000 acres through the Ramappa–Pakhal Link Canal.
Furthermore, the scheme proposed stabilising part of the ayacut served by the Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme. It was also designed to meet drinking-water requirements in villages located along the project route. The pending Sammakka Sagar NOC was therefore required for Telangana to use the barrage up to its planned storage level.
Sammakka Sagar NOC linked to irrigation benefits
The proposed benefits under SRSP Stage-II covered irrigation areas across five districts. Suryapet accounted for the largest share, with 2,34,199 acres proposed for stabilisation.
Mahabubabad accounted for another 96,494 acres, while Khammam had 85,774 acres under the proposed benefits. Warangal accounted for 22,422 acres, while Jangaon had 1,111 acres. Separately, the Ramappa–Pakhal Link Canal was planned to provide irrigation to an additional 30,000 acres.
Of this new ayacut, 8,000 acres were located in Mulugu district. The remaining 22,000 acres were in the Narsampet Assembly constituency of Warangal district.
Uttam Kumar Reddy’s discussions with Vishnu Deo Sai focused on securing Chhattisgarh’s cooperation for the project. Telangana also committed to compensating affected land and house owners in the neighbouring State.