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Silt shrinks Jurala storage
Due to silt formation in the Jurala reservoir irrigation facility is being denied to 30,000 acres under its ayacut for the second crop thanks to lack of official’s foresight.
Mahbubnagar: Due to silt formation in the Jurala reservoir irrigation facility is being denied to 30,000 acres under its ayacut for the second crop thanks to lack of official’s foresight. Apprehending danger of water flowing over the crest gates, irrigation authorities have reduced storage level in the project. Either the united Andhra Pradesh government or Government of Telangana apparently showed no interest in getting the silt removed.
District ministers and the powers-that-be in the Government have failed to focus their attention on getting the project de-silted. Presently, the storage capacity of Jurala is down by 2.373 tmc ft and stands at 9.657 tmc ft against its full storage capacity of 11.94 tmc ft because of the silt formed during the past two decades.
The reduced storage has no impact on 1.02 lakh acres cultivated in kharif. However in the rabi, the tail-end fields are not getting water under the ayacut. It may be recalled that last year, the officials declared crop holiday in the rabi season which endorsed the travails of the ayacut farmers. On account of reduction in the water storage only 5.657 tmc ft is available for cultivation.
The irrigation officials submitted reports umpteen times to the government requesting removal of silt, but in vain. Using modern machinery to desilt the project is a costly affair. The only alternative is to let the silt drain through the sluice holes. The people express apprehension over losing the second crop under the project ayacut if no concrete steps are taken to improve the storage.
According to the project executive engineer Sridhar, it is no more possible to store 11.45 tmc ft of water in the project. If such quantity of water is stored, the villages in the upstream will face flood threat. On account of the silt in the project, out of 9.657 tmc ft, 2.373 tmc ft is not available for irrigation. In effect only 7.5 tmc ft is available to irrigate the ayacut lands. The project irrigates 1.02 lakh acres in the first crop. However, the water supply falls short to provide irrigation facility to the second crop.
By Narender Chary
