Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project

• 24 Apr 2020

• The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme of Telangana is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhupalpally, Telangana.
• The project starts at the confluence point of Pranahita River and Godavari River.
• Originally called Pranahita-Chevella project in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, it was redesigned, extended and renamed as Kaleshwaram project in Telangana in 2014.

Godavari River

• The Godavari is India's second longest river after the Ganga.
• Source: Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra.
• Areas drained: It flows east for 1,465 kilometres, draining the states of Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Karnataka, ultimately emptying into the Bay of Bengal through its extensive network of tributaries.
• Tributaries: The major tributaries of the river are classified as the left bank tributaries which include the Purna, Pranhita, Indravati and Sabari river and the right bank tributaries are Pravara, Manjira, Manair.

• Kumbh Mela is held at Nasik (on the Godavari), Prayagraj (at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati), Haridwar (on the Ganges), Ujjain (on the Shipra) every four years by rotation.

• Sadarmatt Anicut across river Godavari is one among the two irrigation projects in the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) Register of Heritage Irrigation Structures.

Pranahita River

• Pranahita river is the largest tributary of the Godavari river covering about 34% of its drainage basin.
• It is a confluence of various other smaller tributaries like Wardha, Penganga and Wainganga Rivers.

Benefits of the Project

• It would bring drinking water and irrigation to the backward areas of Telangana.
• It will also help to restore the ground water level to its original state by the way of shifting from usage of groundwater for irrigation to usage of surface water.
• The project will also support Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha schemes designed to provide drinking water to many villages and improve the capacities of tanks.

Mission Kakatiya

• It is a flagship programme launched by the Government of Telangana which aims at rejuvenation of water tanks and other water storage structures to provide assistance and help to the small and marginal farmers of the state.

Mission Bhagiratha

• It is a project for safe drinking water for every village and city household in Telangana State.
• It aims to provide piped water to 2.32 crore people in 20 lakh households in urban and 60 lakhs in rural areas of Telangana.
• The project will supply clean drinking water to all households in the state through water sourced from River Godavari and River Krishna.

Source: TH