Godavari, Krishna Rivers Linked Wednesday Sep 16,2015

 

Godavari, Krishna rivers formally linked in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu performed puja and inaugurated a pylon at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada where the Godavari's water, flowing from the neighbouring West Godavari district, was linked to Krishna.

The linkage of Godavari water with Krishna basin is being made possible by the 'Pattiseema' lift irrigation scheme on Godavari river at Pattisam village in West Godavari district

AP Govt. took first step to link Godavari and Krishna rivers as water from Godavari river was diverted from Tadepudi reservoir to facilitate supply to the Krishna river. This water would later be supplied to the Delta region. This move is seen as a major step towards linking Godavari and Krishna rivers. About 600 cusecs of water from Godavari has been diverted to Krishna. The water is being evacuated from Tadepudi lift irrigation to be diverted for supply into Prakasham barrage. It will take a couple of days for the water to find its way to the barrage. The State is working on Polavaram multi purpose project and the Pattiseema project to link Godavari and Krishna rivers. The linking of Godavari and Krishna is being seen as a major help for the delta region and drought-proofing water-short Rayalaseema region of the state.

The programme will be held at Ibrahimpatnam village near Vijayawada.

State Water Resources Minister Devineni Umamaheswara Rao told that the state has created history by completing the Krishna-Godavari linking project to divert about 80 TMC of water from river Godavari river to Krishna.

The formal linking of the Godavari and Krishna rivers is termed a boon for the farmers in the Krishna delta (mainly those in the Krishna and Guntur districts), who have been facing acute shortage of water after neighbouring Karnataka allegedly raises the height of the Almatti project.
Almatti dam is a hydroelectric project on Krishna river in north Karnataka which was completed in July, 2005.

Thousands of farmers in Krishna, Guntur, Prakasam, Kurnool, Kadapa, Anantapur and Chittoor districts will benefit from the Godavari-Krishna linkage. About 17 lakh acres including 13 lakhs in the Krishna delta will get assured irrigation water for two agricultural crops round the year. Thousands of villages en route will get drinking water supplies

Note

The interlinking of Godavari and Krishna has beeb on the anvil for almost five decades and with the commisssioning of Pattiseema scheme,four major rivers in Andhra Pradesh are connected to one another -
Godavari - Krishna
Krishna -Pennar
Pennar -Tungabhadra

The Pattiseema (Polavaram) is one of the major projects envisaged under the national river linking project that aims to connect as many as 30 rivers including the Himalayan and the peninsular.    Incidentally, Andhra Pradesh has become the only state with four of these rivers interconnected.    The next in the pipeline under the national project is the interlinking of Ken (Madhya Pradesh) and Betwa (Uttar Pradesh) rivers.