Warangal: The government said on Thursday that the construction of the Sammakkasagar barrage on the Godavari river at Tupakulagudem in Eturnagaram mandal of Mulugu district was complete. The project is expected to ensure availability of water to the Devadula lift irrigation scheme (LIS) throughout the year and 24/7 drinking water supply to the erstwhile Warangal district.
Announcing the completion, TS Digital Media director Konatham Dileep called it “another milestone” in the irrigation sector.
Work on the 1,242-metre barrage with 57 spillway gates was started in 2018 at a cost of Rs 2,100 crore. Sammakkasagar has a storage capacity of about 6.94 tmc ft (thousand million cubic feet) of water.
The barrage was named Sammakkasagar on February 13, 2020, as it is located close to Medaram where the biennial tribal fair of Sammakka and Saralamma is held.
The barrage is intended to provide pondage and interlinking with the Devadula LIS. The barrage is located 5 km from the intake of Devadula LIS and will stabilise around 14 lakh acres under Devadula and Sriramsagar projects. The Sammakka barrage is expected to ensure availability of water to the Devadula project throughout the year and the people of the erstwhile Warangal district will access drinking water round the clock.
According to the officials of the irrigation department, the Sammakka barrage will be inaugurated by Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
Initially, the government had proposed to construct the project in 2016 at Kanthanapally village.
After conducting a survey, irrigation officials learnt that it would lead to submergence of 14 villages and partial submergence of 11 villages. Besides, there were issues of land. The site was then shifted to Tupakulagudem.
