-Dr. S. Vijay Kumar
Agriculture
is the mother of most of the economies in the world. Much of its influence is
on the other sectors - industry and service. India is the second largest in
farm output after China. Hence, India’s economic
security continues to be predicated upon the agriculture sector, and the
situation is not likely to change in the near future. Even today, the share of
agriculture in employment is about 49% of the population, as against around 75%
at the time of independence and it is the principal
source of livelihood for more than 58% of the population. Hence, Agriculture can
be ignored at our own peril. The high vulnerability of agriculture is due to factors
like rains, floods, dry spells, etc. beyond human control and other man made
uncertainties associated with cultivation. The modern welfare state strives
towards removal of uncertainties and attempts to minimize the vulnerabilities
in cultivation through necessary interventions. The most important uncertainty
to be addressed is the issue of water to irrigate fields, directly or
indirectly. The main aim of the construction of Kaleshwaram Project by Telangana
government is to address the issues related to irrigation and drinking
water.
The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhupalpally District, Telangana, India. The foundation for KLIP was laid in May, 2016 by KCR. On 21st June 2019, the FIRST PHASE of the project was opened by the then Telangana Governor E. S. L. Narasimhan, Chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and Y. S. Jagan Mohan Reddy Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh. In these three years, the government constructed three major barrages at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla. “Kaleshwaram is not a single project. It is an aggregation of several projects”. It is expected to be completed by June 2022. Currently the world's largest multi-stage lift irrigation project. The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project is divided into 7 links and 28 packages spanning a distance of approximately 500 km through 13 districts and utilizing a canal network of more than 1800 km. The project aims at increasing total cultivable command area of 18,25,700 acres across all 13 districts in addition to stabilizing the existing Cultivable Command Area.
History: Kaleshwaram Project has been conceived from the erstwhile Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita - Chevella Sujala Sravanthi project in Andhra Pradesh. In 2014, the project was redesigned, extended, and renamed as the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) in Telangana. Originally, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita - Chevella Sujala Sravanthi project was proposed to utilize 160 Thousand Million Cubic Feet (TMC) of allocated water of Godavari basin as per GWDT (The Godavari Water Disputes Tribunal) award. A barrage was proposed at Tummidihetti (V) to divert 160 TMC of water to irrigate 16.40 lakh Ac in 7 districts of Telangana State viz., Adilabad, Nizamabad, Karimnagar, Medak, Warangal, Nalgonda & Rangareddy, besides drinking water & industrial water. Further, it was also planned to provide 10 TMC of Drinking Water to the villages enroute, 30 TMC of Drinking Water to twin Cities of Hyderabad & Secunderabad and 16 TMC of water for Industrial use. The entire project works are divided into 7 links & 28 packages. Agreements are concluded for all 28 Packages during 2007-08 & 2008-09. But, due to the following reasons, the changes were made to the Project:
Inter State Aspect: Dr. B.R.Ambedkar
Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi (PCSS) project is an Interstate project
between Maharashtra and erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. The barrage was proposed with
FRL +152.00 meter and capacity +5.099 TMC. As per the Godavari Water Disputes
Tribunal (GWDT) report, dated 6th October 1975, the State of Maharashtra and
Andhra Pradesh have agreed to take up 3 projects namely, (1) Lendi Project, (2)
Lower Penganga and (3) Pranahita-Chevella at appropriate time with agreed water
utilization. Accordingly, Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi
project was taken up. Maharashtra Government expressed concerns over fixing of
the proposed FRL (Full Reservoir Level) of +152.00 for construction of barrage
near Tummidihetti due to submergence of large extent of land in their territory
and requested to reduce the FRL and avoid submergence in their territory. An
agreement for constitution of Inter State Board for Pranahita - Chevella Sujala
Sravanthi project (PCSS) was entered in to by the then Hon’ble C.Ms of
Maharashtra and AP on 5-05-2012. But, the Government of Maharashtra have
repeatedly requested to lower the FRL from +152.00 m to +148.00 m and minimize
the extent of submergence. Detailed Joint surveys by both the States and the
actual submergence extent of Maharashtra territory was assessed as 3,786 acres
with barrage at FRL +152.00 m and 285 acres with FRL of +148.00 m.
A meeting was held on 17th February 2015 between Hon’ble Chief Minister
of Telangana and Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra along with Hon’ble
Ministers and officers of Telangana and Maharashtra. In the meeting, the
Hon’ble Chief Minister of Maharashtra expressed that considering the unrest, it
is necessary to lower down the barrage level and minimize the submergence area.
A coordinating committee meeting was held on 29-12-2015 to finalize the FRL of
the barrage at +148.00m with a capacity of about 1.85 TMC which was agreed by
Government of Maharashtra. The Government of Telangana exercised all efforts
and after conducting as many as 12 meetings were held (Technical, Co-ordination
committee, Hon’ble Minister’s level & Hon’ble Chief Minster’s level). An
Inter -State Board was constituted to resolve the issues between both the
states on 8th March, 2016 and finally the Government of Maharashtra has agreed
for construction of barrage at Tummidihetti across river Pranahita with FRL
+148.00 m during Interstate Board meeting held in Mumbai on 23-08-2016.
Water availability: The detailed
water availability studies were carried out and assessed by the Central Water
Commission, New Delhi. Accordingly, the net water availability at the barrage
location (Tummidihetti) was assessed as about 165.38 TMC at 75% dependability
which includes perceived surpluses of 63 TMC from the share of upstream states.
Further, the CWC stated that availability of surpluses of 63 TMC from upstream
states as estimated at the barrage site may not be reliably available in
future. As per the Hydrology studies with FRL +152.00 m, the divertible water
would be about 110 to 120 TMC against 160 TMC required and proposed. As per the
studies done with FRL of +148.00 m, involving minimum submergence in
Maharashtra, the divertible flows is 44 TMC only as against the allocation and utilization
of 160 TMC. Thus, the water available is not sufficient to meet the planned
utilization of this project.
Storage capacities: Further, the
Central Water Commission, suggested to re-look into the integrated Storage
Planning aspects of the project to match the demand and supply as the proposed
capacities of storage reservoirs is insufficient for success of the project and
stated that there is requirement of
artificial reservoirs within and around the project area either by increasing
the capacity of existing reservoirs or creating additional new reservoirs.
Hence, the CWC suggestion necessitated to have a re-look on the scope of the
Project.
Revised Scope of the Project: In order to make the project functional and achieve the contemplated
benefits to effectively utilize the Telangana State’s share of Godavari Basin,
an alternate location of barrage across river Godavari had to be investigated
by M/s WAPCOS Ltd., (A Government of India Undertaking in the field of Water,
Power, and Infrastructure Sectors) by using the latest technology i.e., LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging, a remote sensing laser
measuring method) technique
and the location was proposed at Medigadda (V) near Kaleshwaram, Mahadevpur
(M), Karimnagar District. The location of the barrage is most suitable at
Medigadda (V) near Kaleshwaram, Jayashankar Bhupalapally District where the net
availability of water has been assessed as 284.3 TMC (as against the proposed
diversion of 195 TMC) considering utilization through the projects in Penganga,
Wardha, Pranahita, Middle Godavari and Manair sub basins. In view of the above,
the original project has been divided into two components viz., Dr.
B.R.Ambedkar Pranahita Project (Adilabad) and Kaleshwaram Project as follows:
(1). Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Pranahita project: To divert 20 TMC of water by constructing a barrage across river Pranahita near the confluence of Wainganga and Wardha rivers at Tummidihetti (V), Koutala (M), Adilabad District for irrigating an ayacut of 2,00,000 acres in East Adilabad district against the original proposed 56,500 acres in the district.
(2). Kaleshwaram Project: Construction of one barrage across river Godavari at Medigadda near
Kaleshwaram, and two more barrages between Medigadda and Sripada Yellampally
Project at Annaram & Sundilla and to convey water from Sripada Yellampally
Project to the command area spread over in 7 districts of Telangana (now 13
districts after re-organization of districts in the state) through components
such as canals, tunnels, lift systems, reservoirs, and distributary network for
irrigating an ayacut of 18,25,700 acres against the
original proposed ayacut of 16,40,000 acres. Further, it is proposed to
stabilize the existing ayacut in other major projects viz., SRSP Stage-I, SRSP
Stage-II, Flood Flow Canal, Singur and Nizamsagar projects to an extent of
18,82,970 acres. Besides irrigation, drinking water (30 TMC for twin cities and
10 TMC for enroute villages) & water for industrial use (16 TMC) is also
proposed. Further, after careful planning, the proposed capacity of reservoirs
is increased from 11.43 TMC to 147.71 TMC by enhancing the capacities of
existing reservoirs and proposing new reservoirs to match the demand and
supply. Thus, it is re-iterated that the Kaleshwaram and Pranahita projects
are the off-shoots of Dr. B.R.Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi
project, necessitated because of comments of CWC and inter-state issues with
Maharashtra.
KALESHWARAM PROJECT AT A GLANCE: The Kaleshwaram
project has provision for the storage of about 148 tmc ft with plans of utilizing
180 tmc ft by lifting at least 2 tmc ft water every day for 90 flood days. The
project is aimed to irrigate around 37 lakh acres in the 15 districts of Telangana.
It got the longest tunnel to carry water in Asia, running up to 81 KM between
Yellampally barrage and the Mallanna sagar reservoir. On 30th May
2020, Kondapochamma irrigation project has been inaugurated in the presence of
Telangana state CM, K. Chandrashekar Rao. This is one of the
components of the massive KLIP on Godavari river.
·
Highest
pump and motor capacity in package 8 and each is 139 MW
·
Total
7 pumps and Biggest underground pump house in Pkg 8
·
Per
day 3 TMC lifting
·
Highest power
consumption Scheme in Asia
·
Longest
tunnel in Asia 203 in single scheme ( But not single tunnel)
·
Biggest
underground surge pool in Package 10
·
New
Barrages and Pump Houses each 3
·
Total
length : 1832 km
·
Total
Gravity Canal : 1531 km
·
Total
Tunnel length : 203 (Not Single Tunnel)
Pressure pipe line : 98 km
·
Total
Lifts : 20 Nos
·
Total
Pump houses : 19 NOs
·
Total
Pumps : 82 Nos
·
Power
Requirement : 4627.24 MW
·
Power
Consumption : 13558 MU
·
New
Reservoirs : 20 Nos
·
Old
and Existing Reservoirs: 5 Nos
·
Live
Storage : 147.71 TMC
·
The
Cost of Kaleshwaram Project is Rs 80,000 crores. Proposed another Rs.
25,000 Crore on Dec, 2019.
·
Kaleshwaram
Lift irrigation project is being constructed to irrigate 18 lakh acres of land
in 13 districts of Telangana State, stabilizing another 17 lakh acres in
another 7 districts.
·
Kaleshwaram
irrigation project will also be providing drinking water to several Small and
Medium towns and cities of the state, especially to Hyderabad and Secunderabad
Cities.
·
The
project had been conceived to convey water to the command area through
components such as canals, tunnels, lift systems, reservoirs, and distributor
network The entire project is divided into 7 links and 28 packages.
·
provide
10TMC of drinking water for enroute villages and 30TMC of drinking water for
twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad; and 16TMC of water to industries in
addition to agriculture. The total power requirement for this project is
estimated to be is 4628 MW.
·
The
project is programmed to be completed by June 2022.The
proposed project reduces the submergence in the state of Maharashtra and
eventually becoming mutually agreeable.
·
The
total forest area needed for the project is 2866 ha 18. (approximately) and
other area needed is 31871.8 ha (Rounded to 32000 ha).
·
Supports Mission Kakatiya, which is
a flagship programme launched by the Government of Telangana, aims at
rejuvenation of water tanks and other water storage structures to help the
small and marginal farmers of the state.
· Supports Mission Bhagiratha, which is a project for safe drinking water for every village and city household in Telangana State.
Details of Links
Regarding Irrigated Command Area/Ayacut (Acres):
Link-I: From Medigadda
Barrage on Godavari River to Sripada Yellampally Project (30,000 acres)
Link-II: From Sripada
Yellampally Project to Mid Manair Dam
Link-III: From Mid Manair Dam
to Upper Manair Reservoir (86,150 acres)
Link-IV: From Upper Manair
Dam to Konda Pochamma Reservoir (595,754 acres)
Link-V: From Anicut to
Chityala (243,500 acres)
Link-VI: From Sri
Komaravelli Mallanna Sagar to Singur Dam (280,296 acres)
Link-VII: From SRSP Foreshore
to Nizam Sagar Canals and to Dilawarpur and Hangarga village for Nirmal and
Mudhole Constituency (590,000 acres)
Total: 1,825,700 acres
(New ayacut) Apart from: 1,875,000 + acres (Stabilization of existing ayacut)
Details of Links
Regarding Supply of Water:
Link-I: From Medigadda Barrage on Godavari River to Sripada
Yellampally Project
Water will be reverse pumped
from the confluence point of Godavari and Pranitha Rivers to Sripada
Yellampally Project with the help of 3 barrages (Medigadda, Annaram and
Sundilla) and 3 lifts.
As of June 2019, lifts
are being commissioned with provision to lift 2 TMC (56,63,36,93,184 liters) of
water per day from Medigadda. The water is lifted to backwaters of Annaram
barrage. Again, from Annaram barrage to Sundilla barrage. Finally, from
Sundilla to Sripada Yellampally Project. Civil works are being executed to lift
3 TMC per day but pumps are being installed to lift only 2 TMC. If need be,
only pumps would need to be installed to increase capacity by one more TMC.
Link-II: From Sripada
Yellampally Project to Mid Manair Dam
A new balancing reservoir
is also being proposed in the outskirts of Hyderabad of 20–30 TMC to store
water. The water will be supplied to this balancing reservoir in the same link.
Link-V: From Anicut to
Chityala
From Anicut, a series of
gravity canals and a small tunnel of 1.2 km are planned to transfer water to
Gandamalla Reservoir and Baswapuram Reservoir. Thereafter, gravity canals are
planned towards Chityal Mandal and its villages.
Link-VI: From Sri
Komaravelli Mallanna Sagar to Singur Dam
From Sri Komaravelli
Mallanna Sagar, another sequence of gravity canals, tunnels and lifts are used
to transfer water to Singur Dam. Apart from that, if need be, water can be
transferred to Nizam Sagar Project and from there, to SRSP.
Link-VII: From SRSP
Foreshore to Nizam Sagar Canals and to Dilwapur and Hangarga village for Nirmal
and Mudhole Constituency
From the foreshore waters
of SRSP, water will be transferred to reservoirs at Hangarga and Dilwapur
villages. Apart from this, existing reservoirs like Masani Tank and Kondem
Cheruvu will also be linked. Canals under Nizam Sagar will also be irrigated.
Details of Packages:
Sl. No. Description of work No of Packages
1
Diverting water to Sripada Yellampally Project by constructing barrages
at 6
Medigadda, Annaram & Sundilla
across river Godavari
2
Sripada Yellampally Barrage to Mid Manair Reservoir 3
3
Manair Reservoir to Upper Manair Reservoir
1
4
Manair Reservoir to Sri Komaravelli Mallanna Sagar
3
5
Sri Komaravelli Mallanna Sagar to feed Package-14 & 15 by Gravity
canal, to feed 1
Package-17 through Parallel Canal
and serve ayacut of 40000 acres
6
Package-13 OT-point to Sri Konda Pochamma Reservoir 1
7
End of Package-13 Gravity canal towards Chityala
2
8
End of Parallel canal of Package-13 to Singur Reservoir
3
9
Foreshore of Sri Ram Sagar Project to Kondem Cheruvu 2
10
From Kondem Cheruvu to irrigate an ayacut of Kamareddy & Yellareddy 1
Constituencies
11
Foreshore of Sri Ram Sagar Project to Dilwapur and Hangarga 2
Actual
Estimated Cost of the project: The actual cost of the project worked out to Rs.
80,190.46 Crores which is approved by the CWC and TAC (Technical Advisory
Committee). As on Dec, 2019, TS government proposed another Rs. 25,000 Crore for KLIP, in addition
to the above 80190.46 Crore.
SL. No. Name of the Item Amount (Rs. In Crores)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
|
1 |
Works |
63352.00 |
|
2 |
Sub-Stations |
2885.84 |
|
3 |
Land |
6953.65 |
|
4 |
Resettlement & Rehabilitation |
1464.34 |
|
5 |
Forest Land |
741.52 |
|
6 |
Operation & Maintenance |
661.08 |
|
7 |
Establishment charges @ 2% |
1365.43 |
|
8 |
Tools & Plants and Recoveries |
769.27 |
|
9 |
Miscellaneous |
868.51 |
|
|
Total Direct Charges (1+2+3+4+5+6+7+8+9) |
79061.64 |
|
10 |
Indirect charges (Capital value of land abatement) |
359.55 |
|
11 |
(Audit & Account charges) |
769.27 |
|
|
Total Indirect Charges (10+11) |
1128.82 |
FACTS:
·
In Telangana, Godavari water is at lower
level, water needs for irrigation is at much higher level, so water need to be
lifted through pumps and lift irrigation is capital intensive.
·
The State government started constructing
Kaleshwaram with its own funds and raised loans from nationalized banks.
·
KLIP
is a complex project, since it involves 12 stages of pumping, that means same
water has to be pumped at each stage to reach the final destination. Though,
several inaugurations took place, but the project is nowhere near completion
and promised water for irrigation has not yet delivered, except a fraction of
it.
·
Initially, Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation
Project was estimated to be Rs.40,000 crores then became Rs.80,000 crores and
now it is being reported Rs.100,000 crores. Probably, it may cross another
50,000 to 60,000 crore.
·
The project was originally, as per the
Detailed Project Report (DPR) supposed to irrigate 18 lakh acres, but now it
seems it has been revised to 36 lakh acres.
·
With revised cost of Rs.100,000 crores,
this works out Rs.5,50,000 per acre. These are called capital costs. To
maintain this project, as and when it is completed, every year, Government need
to spend more money on electricity, for repairs, and other things, these are
called variable costs. This works out at least minimum Rs. 50,000 to 100,000
per acre to provide irrigation. But certainly, the operational and maintenance
costs will not be below Rs.50,000 per acre per season.
·
The Kondapochamma component:
As mentioned, KLIP has several components, each linked to other and water need
to be sequentially has to come stage wise.
·
For example, the Kondapochamma was
inaugurated, but unless the earlier stages such as Mallanna sagar and other
pumping stations are completed from Medigadda, such inaugurations raise
expectations, but will not deliver any water.
·
They synchronization of these stages is
extremely important. It is not each stage is completed, but it has to be done
sequentially. Kondapochamma is water tank, built over 4,400 acre, evacuating
three villages.
·
A circular bund with 15.8 km with nearly
40 m height has been built at the cost of Rs. 3,500 crores. All this
infrastructure is only useful provided the capacity to pump water before this
stage has been established. Water will have to come nearly 300 km away after
passing through 11 pumps to reach 620 meters reduced level.
·
In order to irrigate 2,85,000 acres, as
stated, at least 45 TMC of water is required. This means the tank has to be
filled three times at least. In order to pump 1 TMC of water from Medigadda at
least Rs.50 crores of electricity is required at Rs.5 unit cost. This means in
order to get the required water, 45 TMC to irrigate 2,85,000 acres, the
electricity cost would be close to Rs. 2,200 crores.
·
That means, every acre of irrigated with
this water, Government is going to spend Rs. 80,000 on electricity alone. If we
include all other costs, without capital costs, it will exceed Rs.1,00,000 per
acre per season. Though, the project has been inaugurated, its utility is
nowhere near.
In view of the above facts, a critical
analysis has been initiated.
Critical Analysis: No doubt, KLIP is a engineering wonder
and good tourist attractive picnic spot. But, this is not enough, when
thousands crores of public money is spent, one has to critically evaluate what
are the benefits and costs of this Project in terms of agriculture i.e. to farmers, industries and
drinking water facilities to the public.
·
The Detailed Project
Report (DPR) states that it would provide water for irrigation for 18.25 lakh
acres and stabilize water for another 6 lakh acres of existing irrigated area.
The estimated project cost is Rs. 80,450 crore and the
annual maintenance costs including interest payments will be around Rs. 13,923 crore. The projected net annual benefits are estimated at
around Rs. 21,521 crore.
· The DPR, for example, states that out of Rs. 21,521 crore of annual benefits, the agriculture sector will contribute Rs. 12,730 crore. Even these figures are not properly accounted in the DPR. The benefits from the agriculture sector in the report are based on three assumptions. They include: (1) The project will provide irrigation to 24 lakh acres; (2) Increases in the yield of 12 crops will be of 500-900 per cent more than current reported yields; and (3) All the produce will be getting higher prices.
·
A
farmer who is cultivating chilies, for example, is currently getting net income
of Rs. 12,000 per acre as net benefit. But, with KLIP
water, the same farmer is expected to get Rs. 1,56,000 per acre, which is 13 times more than the current
return, which is far away from truth. Normally, when production (Supply) of any
crop increases, the prices will fall with no buyers (less demand) in the
market. For example, in case of Chilies in Telangana in 2017, when supply of
Chilies increased, there no buyers, farmers in their frustration burnt the
produce. Significantly, this is
also the case with other crops. The DPR provides the projected benefits
of each crop per acre. The net benefits from each crop after removing the cost
of cultivation has been mentioned, and the current benefit of that crop has
been given brackets.
· For reference sake, the details of DPR regarding other crops are: Paddy: Rs 28,000 per acre net projected benefit (Rs 3,200 current benefit); Maize: Rs 24,000 (Rs 3,500); Jowar: Rs 12,000 (Rs 2,400); Green gram: Rs 30,000 (Rs 2,700); Black gram: Rs 34,000 (Rs 2,000); Pigeon Peal Rs 34,000 (Rs 16,000); Ground nut: Rs 46,000 (Rs 10,000); Cotton: Rs 42,000 (Rs 9,000); Vegetables: Rs 44,000 (`3,000); Turmeric: Rs 55,000 (Rs 2,300); Soya bean Rs 40,000 per acre net projected benefit (Rs 19,000 current benefit).
·
Thus,
it is clear that the figures indicated in the DPR fail to reflect the current
realities of cultivation. In short, this project is unlikely to generate
benefits of more than Rs. 4,000
crore while the State would spend Rs. 13,000
crore every year. The Telangana
government is going to spend four times more on the operation and maintenance
costs than all the benefits that would accrue to farmers.
·
The
projected agricultural benefits of KLIR are based on the assumption “that
farmers will grow high-value crops at high yields” which is uncertain, a study
points out.
· There is a lot of debate on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation (KLI) project, mainly on its costs and benefits, apart from its complex technical aspects. Many economists think that it can perhaps irrigate about 20 lakh acres, not the scheduled 38 lakh acres. Spending Rs 80,000 crore on it, needing to run it with over 4,000 MW power and other operation and maintenance (O&M) costs can be more than the increased agricultural production. They opine that the merely increased yield and its value will not be sufficient to make the project economically viable.
·
It
is almost as if the state will prescribe to the farmer which crop to produce,
and in how much quantity. The projections do not properly taken into account multiple factors,
including demand and price, that impact farming decisions.
· Growing acreage and rising yields, on the back of confirmed water supply and better methods of irrigation and use of better seeds and inputs will lead to 2847% increase on total net return, the detailed project report claims.
Debt Burden:
·
KLIP
being the costliest Project in the country, Telangana State public debt is set
to touch Rs. 2.29-lakh
crore in 2020-21, up from an estimated Rs. 1.99-lakh crore in 2019-20. The State
debt is poised to go up by nearly Rs. 31,000 crore in FY2021, up 21 per cent
over the current financial year and will be 20.5 per cent of Gross State
Domestic Product. The per capita debt for the State with a population of about
3.7 crore works out to over Rs. 61,000 by the end of fiscal 2021.
Jayaprakash Narayan Objections to KLIP:
·
Jayaprakash Narayan, A
former Indian Public Administrator, Politician (President & Fonder of Lok Satta Party, Ex-MLA),
Political Reformer, Columnist to Times of India, The Economic Times, Financial
Express, The Hindu and Eenadu said over twitter that “I was the only one who consistently
raised voice against it in the Assembly and outside. All major parties are
guilty. Kaleshwaram will cost nearly Rs 100,000 Cr and will cost about Rs
20,000 Cr every year for maintenance. The poor people and tax payers will bear
the burden”.
Environmental Law
Violations:
·
In October 2020,
the National Green Tribunal,
India's court for environmental issues, directed the Telangana government to
halt work on the KLIP except the drinking water supply component. A petition
had been filed by a farmer from Siddipet district, whose land was affected by
the KLIP. The National Green Tribunal found, on hearing his petition, that the
environmental clearances for the KLIP had not been obtained before the project,
as is required by law, but had been granted by the Union Government of India
after work on the project had already begun by the Telangana government. The
National Green Tribunal has directed the Indian government's Ministry of Environment, Forests and
Climate Change to constitute
a committee to investigate the illegally granted clearances, and to file a
report with them within six months.
Concerns About Quality of the KLIP:
·
Breach in Kondapochamma Sagar
Reservoir: Kondapochamma
Sagar Reservoir a part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation
Scheme, which was inaugurated by the CM on May 29th, with in a short time i.e. on June 12, the left and right canals
suffered breaches. Due
to this, Shivar Venkatapur village in Markook Mandal of Siddipet district got
flooded with Godavari water and submerged fields adjoining the village, where
paddy, vegetable and other crops had been planted.
·
An under-construction tunnel of Kaleshwaram Collapsed: In Sept, 2020, under-construction
tunnel of Kaleshwaram irrigation project in Sircilla district collapsed on
Wednesday, killing seven workers, and seriously injuring one.
·
Under Construction tunnel Collapses in Palamuru –
Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project: Two labourers died and 14
others were injured after the wall of an under construction tunnel being built
for an irrigation project caved in on them in Nagarkurnool district, which
comes under KLIP.
High Costs:
· What explains the government’s dubious claims about the benefits to farmers? Experts suspect this has been done to justify the high costs of the project.
· Apart from the construction cost of Rs 80,500 crore, the annual cost of running the project is projected at Rs 13,923 crore. The estimated energy cost of pumping water alone is Rs 4,067 crore. The state will also have to pay a 10% interest on the project capital, which works out to Rs 8,050 crore.
· Despite the high costs, the detailed project report has estimated a benefit-cost ratio of 1.55. This is higher than the benchmark ratio recommended by the Comptroller and Auditor General of India, which says a project is viable if it achieves a benefit-cost ratio of 1 in drought-prone areas. The ratio is calculated by dividing the total estimated benefit by the total estimated cost.
· The report claims a part of the project’s cost will be recovered from annual drinking water charges of Rs 1,699 crore and charges for water diverted to industrial units – about Rs 4,077 crore.
· But the major portion of the costs can only be justified by projecting large agricultural benefits. Agricultural production, which depends on a variety of factors including the weather, falls short, there could be a fall in the projected benefits and the overall benefit-cost ratio.
Cost of lifting water:
·
It
is estimated that power bills would be to the tune of 7000 to 8000 crores. It
will be incurred by the Government. Finances of DISCOMS have been already hit
hard by the 24/7 free agricultural power supply, around 1000 crore is the
estimated impact on State budget. This adds to existing 3000 crore burden from
electricity subsidies. State would need to make budgetary cuts somewhere to
accommodate this.
Kaleshwaram project has low benefit-cost
ratio, says irrigation expert:
·
Addressing at a Seminar on ‘Alternative Proposals and New
Technology’ in the context of redesigning of the Pranahita-Chevella project,
T. Hanumantha Rao (Retd. Chief Engineer) admitted that the benefit-cost ratio
of the KLIP at the present cost is very low, which makes it highly unviable.
However, within the limited scope of technicalities, he complimented the
government for choosing Medigadda for barrage, as more water is available at
the location. Nevertheless, pumping cost from Medigadda could be reduced with
redesigning of the head sluice at Tummidihetti, to draw as much water as
possible there itself through widening and deepening of canals. As per his
analysis, the disputes over project height are not needed, as only 120 tmcft
water is divertible at Tummidihetti, and additional water availability at 152
meters is very negligible.
Other Questions:
·
What would farmers
actually get from growing crops with such expensive water?
·
How will the
government recover cost by selling water to industry and domestic users to the
tune of Rs 6,000 crore annually?
·
Now that project has
started and a lot of money is being spent, what can be done?
This
is typical of irrigation projects. A lot can still be done to avoid huge costs,
by referring to independent experts for incorporating
changes. That will save money and avoid huge O&M costs.
Other side of the Coin:
Cost-benefit Analysis:
· The International Water Management Institute’s (IWMI) works reveal that appraisal of irrigation projects are based on only a few direct benefits. In the cost-benefit analysis, many indirect social and environmental benefits are largely ignored. There are capital costs comprise annual depreciation and annual interest charges. O&M costs include administration costs. There is also rehabilitation costs. They may be classified as financial costs. Proper estimation of financial costs is important for determining the economic costs of the project. And the other indirect effects (costs) are estimated and valued in monetary terms. Water is a scarce resource. Economic efficiency is the central concept in the use of scarce resources. For this, we do a cost-benefit analysis, which deals mainly with economic efficiency. It does not account for distributional impact of a project. For it, we need to do Economic Impact Assessment, which accounts for sectoral linkages, including the impacts in secondary and tertiary markets. All the outcomes and impacts that change the net benefits to society should be included in the assessment. Then only, it provides a holistic approach.
· Once the benefits and costs are identified, quantified, and valued, the next step is to develop a common measure of index, which allows direct comparison of costs and benefits. The most commonly used measures include net present value, economic rate of return and benefit-cost ratio. They are used to compare costs and benefits of irrigation and to determine returns on irrigation investments.
·
But
it is not right to compare costs with immediate direct benefits, ignoring the
economic value of other multiple distributary socio-economic impacts. For such
irrigation projects meant to impact the economy of the State, the government
should be in a position to meet its annual capital commitments and O&M
costs from its revenue expenditure and not just from the utility charges paid
by farmers and other users. Confining the cost-benefit of KLI Project to
agriculture alone is unwise.
·
The
most important uncertainty to be addressed is the issue of water to irrigate
fields, directly or indirectly. Mission Kakatiya, though envisaged to increase the
storage capacity of the tanks, fares poorly when there is no adequate rainfall.
Village tanks are central to farmers as they recharge groundwater
substantially. Thus, maintaining sufficient water in the tanks round the year
becomes critical. The Kaleshwaram project, apart from directly irrigating 18.25
lakh acres , aims to recharge groundwater by filling tanks, and other water
bodies. The benefits of such an
effort are long term and difficult to evaluate through cost-benefit analysis in
mere economic terms. For example, how can cost-benefit be calculated if
farmers’ choices of crops to cultivate widen as a result of increasing access
to irrigation water through 24-hour power supply and heightened groundwater
table resulting in greater discharge from bore-wells. Every season thousands of
bore-wells are dug in every Mandal across the State by
desperate farmers to source more groundwater. Considering that each bore-well
costs not less than Rs.1 lakh, stabilizing the groundwater through the
Kaleshwaram project will ensure that farmers need not go for new bore-wells — a substantial increase in water table will be
a boon for cultivation.
·
Cost-benefit analyses
are vital for planned state initiatives, but such analyses can also sometimes
reveal half-truths. The modern welfare State can seldom afford to go with
economists’ preference for cost-benefit analysis when millions of farmers are
under agrarian distress. The Kaleshwaram project has to be seen in that perspective.
The arguments against the Kaleshwaram project also ignore the new seed
varieties developed by crop breeders which are of short duration, thus reducing
the irrigation days. When there are no rains, if the village tanks are filled,
the farmer need not to be worried about weather tantrums. The critics ignored
the larger socio-economic benefits of the project, which
include development of fisheries, inland waterways, tourism, and biodiversity.
Conclusion: Pragmatically
speaking, most of the irrigation projects in India, whether gravity based, or
lift based rarely meet the highly optimistic figures told by the government. It
is true that this project is going to have heavy burden on exchequer of
Telangana government and is not so profitable if we take into account two “wet
crops”. But at the same time, it is wrong to say that the project is useless.
It is definitely useful, when larger socio-economic benefits of the project, like
fisheries, inland waterways, tourism, and biodiversity are taken
inn consideration and carefully managed.
References:
1.
Kaleshwaram Project Summary, Telangana
State.
2. Kaleshwaram lift
irrigation project: Time for an expert review - DECCAN CHRONICLE - DR. BIKSHAM
GUJJA, Published on Jul 4, 2020.
3. Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation
Project: Facts on world's largest multi-purpose lift irrigation project - India Today – Web Desk, New Delhi,
Published on June 21, 2019.
4. Explained: Why the NGT wants a relook at Kaleshwaram project –
The Indian Express – Dated: Oct. 2nd, 2020.
5. Mega Kaleshwaram project becomes
operational – The Hindu – Dated: 22/06/2019.
6. Telangana: Kaleshwaram project sets new
record, cost to cross Rs 1 lakh – Times of India – Dated: 8/12/2019.
7. A White Elephant in the making –
Biksham Gujja – Published in Business Line – Dated: 02/08/2018.
8. Kaleshwaram Project: Will it sink
Telangana’s economy? - DECCAN CHRONICLE. | DR
BIKSHAM GUJJA – Published on Jul 10, 2018.
9. Kaleshwaram project has low
benefit-cost ratio, says irrigation expert -
The Hindu, Dated: 9/04/2016.
10. Irrigation project on Godavari
river set to raise Telangana’s debt - Hindustan
Times – Dated: 26/01/2019.
11. Kaleshwaram – The making of an
engineering Marvel – Business Line – Dated: 21/06/20019.
12. http://www.irrigation.telangana.gov.in/img/projectspdf/kaleshwaram.pdf
13. https://www.kaleshwaramproject.com/
14. Other Relevant Websites related to
Kaleshwaram Project.
recruitment
ReplyDeletediwali songs telugu
ReplyDeletedipawali song
latest folk song
ReplyDeletehoney saarya songs