The history of telugu ganga project

TELUGU GANGA PROJECT MAIN OBJECT OF TELUGU GANGA PROJECT

Telugu Ganga Project is an interesting project formulated ( first it was initiated in 15. 2. 1976 and finally historic agreement was signed on 18. 4. 1983 and 25. 5. 1983 foundation ceremony was held) to utilize flood water of Krishna and Pennar rivers to irrigate 5. 75 lakh acres (2. 32702 lakh ha) in drought prone areas of Kurnool, Cuddapah and Chittoor districts of Rayalaseema and uplands of Nellore districts in Andhra Pradesh besides conveying 15 TMC (424. 75*106 m3 ) of Krishna water for Chennai city. The scheme consists of 408 km long canal from Srisailam passing through the above said 4 districts, and up to Andhra Pradesh, Tamilnadu border

BRIEF HISTORY OF TELUGU GANGA PROJECT•

Due to successive droughts and consequent acute scarcity of drinking water for the metropolitan city of Madras, the then Prime Minister of India made historic announcement at Madras on 15th Februvary, 1976 that the three Krishna basin states of Maharashtra, Karnataka and the erstwhile combined State of Andhra Pradesh had agreed to spare 5 TMC each from their respective shares of Krishna waters to meet the requirements of Madras City Water supply• On 14-04-1976, the three Krishna basin States of Maharashtra, Karnataka and the erstwhile combined State of Andhra Pradesh had agreed to spare 5 TMC each from their respective shares of Krishna waters to meet the requirements of Madras City Water supply•

A meeting Convened by the Union Minister of Agriculture & Irrigation on 27-10-1977 and attended by representatives of all the four states, it was agreed that the Govt. of TamilNadu shall be permitted to draw not more than 15 TMC in a Water Year from Srisailam Reservoir during the period from 1st July to 31st October through an open lined channel In the meeting between the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh and TamilNadu held on 15-06-1978, it was agreed to commence investigation of the project and to get the progress of investigations monitored by a Liaison CommitteeOn 18-04-1983, Historical agreement between Chief Ministers of Andhra Pradesh and Tamil Nadu on Telugu Ganga Project•

On 18/04/1983, the Hon’ble Chief Minister of A. P., Sri N. T. Rama Rao and the Hon’ble Chief Minister of T. N., Sri M. G. Ramachandran have entered an agreement for drawl of not more than 15 TMC of water from River Krishna for supplying water to [image: ]Chennai City on Cost Sharing basisOn 27-04-1983, Foundation stone laid to S. P. V. B. Reservoir of Telugu Ganga Project by Hon’ble Chief Ministers of A. P. The Metropolitan area now controlled by Chennai Metropolitan Development Authority covers now 1167 sq. km approximately. Sathyamurthysagar (Poondi reservoir) was built in 1944 on (Kusasthalaiar River). City faced a severe shortage in 1947, 1954, 1968, 1972 to 1975, 1982, 1983 and 2000 to 2003.

At this stage Telugu Ganga was planned. In Jan 2002 a Rs. 200 crores( sri was announced for lining the Kandaleru Poondi canal carrying Krishna water to Chennai. It takes 4 days for the water to travel from release point to zero point (the point at which the canal crosses into Tamil Nadu from Andhra Pradesh). • The Canal lining for 65 km was completed in a span of 15 months (Oct 2002 to Dec 2003) Tamil Nadu Zero point is 152 km from Kandaleru Dam. Release from Kandaleru on Nov 23 rd 2004 was 1000 cfs (28. 32 m3/s) and quantity received at zero point is 483 cfs (13. 68 m3/s). The Canal part of Andhra Pradesh is called “ Satya Sai Ganga Canal”. Earlier it use to take 9 days for the water to travel the same distance.[image: ]

TELUGU GANGA PROJECT LINE DIAGRAM

The scheme consists of 408 km long canal from Srisailam Reservoir to Andhra Pradesh – Tamilnadu border and further extends to 26 km in Tamilnadu till it joins Poondi reservoir.