Mana Ooru- Mana Cheruvu in Bangaru Telangana

Tanks have been the lifeline of Telangana owing to the state's geographical positioning. The topography and rainfall pattern in Telangana have made tank irrigation an ideal type of irrigation by storing and regulating water flow for agricultural use. Though tanks are mainly used for irrigation purposes, they are also used for rearing fisheries, as a common grazing land, as a source of clay for pottery etc.There are about 46,531 tanks in the State spreading across all the 10 districts.

Construction of tanks in Telangana has been an age old activity since pre-Satavahana era. During the Kakatiya era, the construction of tanks was carried out with utmost technical expertise. Tanks such as Ramappa, Pakhala, Laknavaram, Ghanapuram, Bayyaram which were built by Kakatiyas resemble seas and they greatly helped agriculture and overall development and prosperity of the Kakatiya kingdom.This vision and legacy of Kakatiyas were carried forward by Qutubshahis and Asafjahis who ruled this region for centuries. Hundreds of big and small tanks were built in Telangana region during their rule. However, after independence, the successive Governments have neglected the maintenance and development of tanks and allowed them to face extinction by way of siltation, breaches, encroachments etc.With the extinction of tank system, the self-sufficient villages of Telangana have become vulnerable to frequent drought.

Upholding the vision of Kakatiyas, the Government of Telangana launched a flagship program 'Mission Kakatiya', also known as Mana Ooru Mana Cheruvu. The mission aims at retrieving the lost glory of minor irrigation in the state with community participation for ensuring sustainable water security.

Objective of Mission Kakatiya

The objective of Mission Kakatiya is to enhance agriculture-based income for small and marginal farmers, by accelerating the development of minor irrigation infrastructure, strengthening community-based irrigation management and restoration tanks to its full potentials.

The Government has prioritized to take up restoration of minor irrigation tanks to restore them to store water to the extent of their original capacity and to effectively utilize 255 TMC of water allocated for Minor irrigation sector under Godavari & Krishna River basins.The minimum ayacut that can be irrigated with the above-allocated water is about 20 lakh acres. But as per the statistics, the ayacut now being irrigated is only about 9 to 10 lakh acres under minor irrigation tanks.

Mission Kakatiya aims at bridging the gap ayacut of about 10 lakh acres by adopting following works: (i) by de-silting the tank beds to restore original water storage capacity of tanks,

(ii) by repairing dilapidated sluices, weirs etc.,

(iii) by strengthening the tank bunds to its original standards,

(iv) by repairing the feeder channels to standards for getting water freely into tanks,

(v) by re-sectioning of irrigation channels to standards and

(vi) repairs to CM & CD works for smooth distribution of water to fields according to their requirement.

As the schemes need multi-disciplinary approach, various departments of the State Government such as irrigation, agriculture, fisheries, rural development, forest, groundwater are in constant touch with each other for better coordination. Responsibilities of different departments under the Mission are:

(i) Agriculture Department sees the suitability of tank silt for application in agriculture fields,

(ii) Rural Development Department sees to it that Mission Kakatiya is converged with various other programmes being implemented wherever necessary,

(iii) the tasks that of the Forest department is to utilise tank foreshore areas for afforestation, planting Silver Oak and Toddy (Eetha) trees around the tank boundaries,

(iv) Fisheries Department to takes up the activities which increase aquaculture in the tank,

(v) Revenue Department coordinates with the field Engineers in identifying the Shikam lands, determining/demarking the FTL of tank, identifying the government wastelands for dumping the unproductive soil, and removing illegal constructions in tank bed,

(vi) Ground Water Department to monitor the groundwater levels and quality of groundwater, identify list of over-exploited villages to the district,

(vii) Information and Public Relations Department to create awareness on the benefits of restoration of the tanks.

Table: Implementation of Mission Kakaitya in Phase-I and Phase-II

Item	Phase I (2014-15)		Phase II (2015-16)		Total
	Number of Tank	Share in Total	Number of Tank	Share in Total
Total Tanks	9306	20%	9306	20%	46,531
Survey Completed Tanks so far	8218	17%	9018	19%	47,799

The irrigation department has planned to restore all the 46,531 minor irrigation sources in next five years, taking up 20% (9,306) of the tanks each year. Under the first phase of Mission Kakatiya, 9,306 tanks were taken up for renovation. The budget provision for the Scheme in 2014-15 was Rs.2016 crore and in 2015-16 it is Rs. 2083.13 crore.

Save Gandipet Tank Campaign

Osman Sagar was created by constructing a dam on the Musi River in 1916, to serve as drinking water reservoir for Hyderabad, and also to save the city from floods. Realizing the importance of reclamation of green environment for growth in the state, the Government has taken up the programme 'Save Gandipet' under Mission Kakatiya.Objective Of Save Gandipet Tank include: (i) To protect the lake from all encroachments, (ii) to build a fencing along the FTL (Full Tank Level) of the Lake without disturbing water inflows & outflows so as to stop further encroachments, and (iii) to develop Recreational spaces including walking /Jogging, Cycling Tracks & Landscape areas to create a lively environment around the Lake.

G.Rajendera Kumar