Long, expensive haul ahead for Kaleshwaram pumphouses

HYDERABAD: The submergence of two Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation System (KLIS) pumphouses has been claimed to be a result of a once-in-a-100-years frequency flood. But the reality is that the flooding of the pumphouses occurred even before the river Godavari reached the 71-foot on Friday evening, which is lower than the 75.6-foot mark that it reached in August 1986, and touched the 70.8-foot mark again in 1990, belying the claim that the pumphouses submergence now is a result of an event that could occur once in a century.

Late on Thursday night, as the news of the flooding of the pumphouses of the Kaleshwaram project at Kannepalli, and Annaram, which are part of the heart of the KLI system that seeks to harness Godavari water to irrigate and provide drinking water to several districts, made the rounds, the advisor to the Telangana government on lift irrigation, Penta Reddy, released a statement characterising the flooding of the pumphouses as a result of extraordinary rain leading to floods in the Godavari and its tributaries calling it a “100-year frequency flood.”

“This should be considered a natural disaster, and under such conditions, it is only natural that pumphouses get submerged, and this does not lead to any problems,” Penta Reddy had said.

His statement followed severe criticism from opposition parties that were quick to flay the state government alleging that negligence resulted in the disaster that saw eight pumps at Annaram pumphouse, and another 15 at Kannepalli going underwater.

The lift irrigation advisor to the state government had also said that all it will take for the pumps to be brought back on line after the floods recede, and after removing the water from the pumphouses, is to “dry them up.” He, however, added that the electrical and electronic components will need to be replaced with new ones.

But nothing could be farther than the truth, according to Donthula Laxminarayana, a former engineer in the irrigation department. He said the exercise to restore the pumps will be time-consuming, and expensive, and each of the machines will need extensive refurbishing.

“First the water needs to be evacuated from the pumphouses and the pumps themselves. Then comes the clean-up and drying. This slow and laborious process will require the winding of the motors to be warmed up to dry them from the inside. But then, there are the router boxes, and other electrical equipment that too would most likely need replacement because of rust setting in,” he told Deccan Chronicle when asked what it takes to get the pumps back in action.

The characterisation of the submergence and the made it sound easy repair plan is nothing more than a desperate attempt to cover up lacunae in the planning and execution of the project, he said.

In the first place, the pump houses should not have been built on the flood plain, and the planning should have taken into consideration how the river behaved during the 1986 floods, he said.

The most important thing to remember, he said, is to look at the time the pumps and all their related electrical and electronic controls remain under water. Even to evaluate the damage, the primary requirement is to wait for the floods to recede. Then comes the pumping out of the water, and this is not a one-day affair. In the meantime, the water will damage the equipment, and this means that this is going to be a very costly affair to replace all the damaged parts. Even when restored, it should be remembered that they will never behave as if they are in their original state, he explained.