Heritage Tag For Two Telangana Irrigation Projects

• 10 Sep 2018

International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) has accepted Telangana government’s nomination of two irrigation projects in the ICID Register of Heritage Irrigation Structures:

• Sadarmatt Anicut across river Godavari in Nirmal district.
• Pedda Cheruvu in Kamareddy district.

India was represented by Indian National Committee on Surface Water at the meeting.

Sadarmatt Anicut

• It is one of the oldest known anicut and was constructed over the Godavari river for the purpose of irrigating crops of the Kaddam and Khanapur mandals that lie in the Adilabad district.
• The anicut, which is the English word for Telugu’s ana-katta, means a rainfall bund.
• It was built during the rule of the Nizam of Hyderabad by Nawab Ikbal-ud-Dowla also known as Vicar-ul-Umrah Bahadur in 1891-92.

Pedda Cheruvu

• The Pedda Cheruvu (big tank in Telugu) located on the outskirts of this district headquarters of Kamareddy District.
• It was built in 1897 during the rule of Mir Mahboob Ali Khan, the sixth Nizam of Hyderabad State.
• Womenfolk play Bathukamma during the Navaratri on its bund and immerse them in its waters.
• This tank has also been taken up under the second round of Mission Kakatiya and will be developed as a mini-tank bund.

International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID)

• The International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID), established in 1950 is a leading scientific, technical, international not-for-profit, non-governmental organization.
• ICID is a professional network of experts from across the world in the field of irrigation, drainage, and flood management.
• The main mission is to promote ‘Sustainable agriculture water management’ to achieve ‘Water secure world free of poverty and hunger through sustainable rural development’.
• ICID is a knowledge sharing platform dedicated to issues that cover the entire spectrum of agricultural water management practices ranging from rain-fed agriculture to supplemental irrigation, land drainage, deficit irrigation to full irrigation, etc.
• India is the founding member of the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID).

Indian National Committee on Surface Water

• Indian National Committee on Surface Water is constituted under the Ministry of Water Resources.
• INCSW gives advice to Central/State Governments and their agencies on matters related to Surface Water.

Bathukamma

• The annual floral festival is celebrated in Telangana and some parts of Andhra Pradesh during Navratra festival.
• It is celebrated for nine days during which Goddess Gauri, who is also known as Bathukamma is worshipped.
• During the festival, a small wooden platform is decorated in a circular arrangement with layers in order to make a conical arrangement of flowers.