Hyderabad: The Telangana government has stepped up efforts to complete the Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme, with Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy announcing the release of ₹146 crore and directing officials to accelerate pending works. The government has reaffirmed its commitment to complete the prestigious irrigation project by December 2027.
The announcement came during a high level review of the project led by Uttam Kumar Reddy, along with Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka and Revenue & Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy. The ministers conducted a ground inspection of the project and reviewed the progress of Phase-III works.
Round the Clock Pumping Amid Rainfall Deficit
With Telangana experiencing a continued rainfall deficit, Uttam Kumar Reddy instructed officials to operate all Devadula pumping units 24 hours a day whenever sufficient inflows are available in the Godavari River. He also directed engineers to fill all 22 reservoirs under the project to their full storage capacity to ensure adequate drinking and irrigation water.
Currently, inflows into the Godavari are around 20,000 cusecs, allowing seven pumping units to operate. Once all 10 pumps are functional, the project can lift 0.23 TMC of water per day, transferring 1 TMC in approximately four and a half days.
Project Completion to be Fast Tracked
Reviewing the intake structures, pump houses, pipelines, tunnels and canal network, the minister directed engineers and contractors to prepare package wise completion schedules with monthly progress reviews. He said land acquisition, statutory approvals and pending clearances would be expedited while deploying additional manpower and machinery to speed up construction.
Uttam Kumar Reddy assured that funding would not be a constraint, stating that the government is fully committed to completing the project within the scheduled timeline.
Irrigation for 5.6 Lakh Acres
The Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme is designed to provide drinking water and irrigation benefits across Mulugu, Jayashankar Bhupalpally, Hanamkonda, Warangal, Jangaon, Siddipet, Karimnagar, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri and Suryapet districts.
Once all three phases are completed, the project is expected to irrigate nearly 5.6 lakh acres. Built at an estimated cost of around ₹18,400 crore, the project is being implemented through 16 packages.
Phase-wise coverage includes:
- Phase-I: 1.23 lakh acres
- Phase-II: 1.93 lakh acres
- Phase-III: 2.39 lakh acres
Major Engineering Milestone
The minister highlighted that the project has already achieved 87.7% physical progress. Most major infrastructure, including pump houses, pipelines and tunnel excavation, has been completed. Remaining works include canal lining, distributary networks, key structures and pending land acquisition.
He also noted that the Devadula project features Asia’s longest 49-km D-shaped irrigation tunnel, along with 642 km of pipelines, 57.16 km of tunnels, 306 km of main canals and a 2,185 km distributary network. Arrangements are also being made to meet the project’s 495.55 MW power requirement, while integration with the proposed Sammakka Barrage is expected to ensure year round water availability.
Kaleshwaram Barrages
Speaking on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, Uttam Kumar Reddy said rehabilitation work on the Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages will begin after the final rehabilitation designs receive approval. He reiterated that the Telangana government would strictly follow the recommendations of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) and would not compromise public safety.
Ministers Reaffirm Commitment
Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka said the Devadula project remains one of the government’s top priorities and assured that it would continue to receive priority funding.
Revenue and Housing Minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said land acquisition has been placed on the fast track, with all departments working in coordination to ensure timely completion.
Officials informed the review meeting that Package 45 under Phase-I has been completed, while Package-46 has reached 96.86% completion. Senior irrigation officials, including Engineer in Chief Ramesh Babu and Joint Secretary Srinivas, also attended the review meeting.
