HYDERABAD

Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Tuesday instructed irrigation officials to maintain strict vigil over rising inflows into reservoirs, take preventive measures against flood damage and ensure appropriate supply of water to farmers during the current crop season.

Holding a virtual meeting with all Engineers-in-Chief, Chief Engineers, Superintending Engineers and Executive Engineers on Tuesday, the minister stressed that balancing flood management and irrigation needs was the foremost priority of the State government.

Reviewing the status of major reservoirs, the Minister pointed out that water inflows into the Krishna basin had reached significant levels. In the Godavari basin, heavy inflows were reported across key projects.

District-level minor irrigation tanks filling also reflected the abundance of inflows. Out of 34,740 tanks across Telangana, as many as 12,023 had become surplus already, while over 9,100 tanks were filled over 75% of their capacity. This indicated a strong water position for irrigation but increased pressure on managing the surplus discharges.

Mr. Uttam Kumar Reddy told the irrigation officials to attend to the flood-related damages on a war footing. The flood damage report showed 177 cases of breaches and damages to MI tanks, canals and lift irrigation schemes. Restoration costs were estimated at over ₹335 crore, with nearly 3,500 temporary restorations already undertaken.

Districts such as Adilabad, Mulugu, Mahabubnagar and Suryapet reported most of the damages, the Minister said and asked the officials to take up permanent restoration works. On irrigation preparedness, he instructed the engineers to ensure that farmers receive water as per crop calendars. For the ongoing Vanakalam (Kharif) season, the State-level committee for Integrated Water Planning and Management (SCIWAM) had proposed irrigation coverage requiring over 388 tmc ft of water. He asked the district officials to coordinate tank releases so that no ayacut area was left out, particularly in the areas that depend on minor irrigation sources.

The Minister told the engineers to operate the infrastructure at a maximum efficiency to secure Godavari waters for current and future cropping cycles. He asked for optimum use of water in Kaddam, Yellampally and SRSP projects and also fill all minor irrigation tanks to ensure year-round water adequacy.

Principal Secretary (Irrigation) Rahul Bojja, Special Secretary Prashant Jeevan Patil, Engineer-in-Chief Amjad Hussain and others participated in the meeting from Hyderabad along with the Minister.