Govt to Complete Devadula, Add 89K Acre Ayacut

Hyderabad:The state government is moving ahead with plans to complete the J. Chokka Rao Devadula lift irrigation scheme by the end of next year. The project, designed to lift water from the Godavari river from near Gangaram village of Eturnagaram mandal of Mulugu district, will add 89,312 acres of new irrigated area in Warangal, Hanamkonda, Karimnagar, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Mulugu, Jangaon, Suryapet and Yadadri-Bhongir districts.

Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy will inspect the project site on Friday to review the progress of the project and take stock of the Phase-III works that are nearing completion. He will be joined by ministers Danasari Anasuya Seethakka, Konda Surekha and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy.

Devadula project is among several irrigation projects that the Congress government has listed as priority projects that are nearing completion and could provide irrigation without much time needed for construction. Nearly 91 per cent of work on the project has been completed so far including the bulk of land acquisition and the aim is to complete all the pending works by December 2025 and add new area under irrigation.

The project was launched in 2004-05 by the then Congress government in the undivided Andhra Pradesh at a cost of `6,016 crore, and with adding two more phases, the cost has risen to `17,500 crore of which `14,188 crore has already been spent on it.

In all, the project is designed to provide irrigation to around 6 lakh acres including the new ayacut that will be added to the irrigation potential when it is fully pressed into service. The Devadula project is designed to use 39.16 tmc ft of water from Godavari every year which can be pumped from the river for 170 days a year.