Farmers in Adilabad Bear Brunt of Water Backflow from Two Key KLIS Barrages

Adilabad: Water backflow from the Medigadda and Annaram barrages is turning into a major concern for farmers, with regular overflows submerging standing crops in Mancherial and Jayashankar Bhupalpally districts, with the issue especially acute in Chennur and Manthani constituencies.

Farmers said that the water flow is high since Pranahitha and Godavari rivers merge at Medigadda and accused the state government of failing to find a solution to curb flooding in the backwaters of the two barrages under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (Klis).

They said that the construction of a ‘karakatta (long wall)’ has been a long-standing demand, and that they were losing money as the government did not compensate them for crop damage.

During monsoon, BRS MLAs Balka Suman of Chennur and Nadipelli Diwakar of Mancherial faced public ire while visiting flood-hit areas in July.

Farmers said that in Chennur of Mancherial, the affected villages were Narsapur, Sundarashala, Beerelli and Ponkur villages, all of which are located on the banks of River Godavari. They were affected by the Medigadda barrage.  

In Manthani of Jayashankar Bhupalpally, the affected villages were Mallaram, Gangapuri, Gundarathpalli, Damarakuna, Laxmipur and Villasagar.

Gone Madhukar, an affected farmer of Gangapuri village in Kataram mandal, said that for the past three years, standing crops of cotton and chillies were submerged due to backwater flow and they did not get any compensation despite bringing their problems to the notice of officials and minister T. Harish Rao.

He said they used to face floods once in five years in the past, but that the issue became perennial since the construction of the Medigadda barrage. He said that agricultural lands were left barren this season to avoid loss of investment costs.

Janagama Mahender of Gundarathapalli village said he had taken three acres on lease for Rs 50,000, which was a waste as his entire crop was submerged in the floods caused by water backflow from the Annaram barrage.

Farmer Katuka Shankaramma, of Gundarathpalli village, lost her standing crops on eight acres, suffering a loss of more than Rs 2 lakh.

Patti Ashok, of Ambatipalli village in Mahadevur mandal, said many farmers in the village lost their standing crops due to water backflow from the Medigadda barrage, but did not get any compensation. He said that they have been facing the problem since the barrage was constructed.

Ashok said he suffered huge losses over the past two years as he lost cotton and chilli standing crops on seven acres.

Besides, standing crops were regularly submerged in Pusukupalli, Kaleshwaram, Kuntlem, and Palugula villages in the undivided Mahadevpur mandal of Manthani in Bhupalapally district.

Further, they alleged flood threats to the villages of Palimela, Lenkalagadda, Parikena, Sarvaipeta and Peddampet when flood water is released downstream from the Medigadda barrage.

Residents said that officials evacuated people of Puskupalli village and relocated them to Kaleshwaram, as the entire village was flooded during monsoon in each of the past two years.

Not only farmers in Telangana, but also those in nearly 30 villages in Sironcha of Gadchiroli in Maharashtra were being affected by the Medigadda flood waters. These include Ankeesa, Asarelli, Pochampalli, Adidam and Pentupaka, located on the banks of Godavari.

The flood water inundates agricultural lands and breaches the fields when officials lift the Medigadda barrage gates of the Kaleshwaram project on Maharashtra’s side, they alleged.