The Sriram Sagar Project , also known as the Pochampadu Project is an Indian flood-flow project on the Godavari River

Godavari River

The Godavari is a river that runs from western to southern India and is considered to be one of the big river basins in India. With a length of 1465 km, it is the second longest river in India , that runs within the country and also the longest river in South India...

. The Project is located in Nizamabad district

Nizamabad district

Nizamabad District is located in the north-western region in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It is also known as Induru. Nizamabad is the current and official name of the district....

, 3 km away from National Highway 7. It has been described by The Hindu

The Hindu

The Hindu is an Indian English-language daily newspaper founded and continuously published in Chennai since 1878. According to the Audit Bureau of Circulations, it has a circulation of 1.46 million copies as of December 2009. The enterprise employed over 1,600 workers and gross income reached $40...

 as a "lifeline for a large part of Telangana

Telangana

Telangana is a region in the present state of Andhra Pradesh, India and formerly was part of Hyderabad state which was ruled by Nizam. It is bordered with the states of Maharashtra on the north and north-west, Karnataka on the west, Chattisgarh on the north-east and Orissa to the east...

".

Sriramsagar is an irrigation project across river Godavari in Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh , is one of the 28 states of India, situated on the southeastern coast of India. It is India's fourth largest state by area and fifth largest by population. Its capital and largest city by population is Hyderabad.The total GDP of Andhra Pradesh is $100 billion and is ranked third...

 to serve irrigational needs in Karimnagar

Karimnagar

As of 2011 India census Estimation, Karimnagar city had a population of 2,99,660. Males constitute 51% of the population and females 49% has an average literacy rate of 86.75%, higher than the national average of 74.04%: male literacy is 92.61%, and female literacy is 80.79%. In Karimnagar, 12% of...

, Warangal

Warangal

Warangal is a city and a municipal corporation in Warangal district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Warangal is located northeast of the state capital of Hyderabad and is the administrative headquarters of Warangal District. This district is a combination of three cities: Warangal,...

, Adilabad

Adilabad

Adilabad , is a town and a municipality in Adilabad district in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India. It has a population of 108,233 . It is the headquarters of the district of the same name.-History:...

, Nalgonda

Nalgonda

Nalgonda is a town and a municipality in Nalgonda district in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Its name is derived from two Telugu words Nalla and Konda . Nalgonda in the past is referred to as Nilagiri. During the period of Bahamani kingdom, it had been renamed as Nallagonda...

, and Khammam

Khammam

Khammam , is the headquarters of the Khammam District in Andhra Pradesh state of India and is located about east of state capital, Hyderabad...

 districts. It also provides drinking water to Warangal town. There is a hydroelectric plant working at the dam site.

History

The foundation was laid by the late Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru

Jawaharlal Nehru , often referred to with the epithet of Panditji, was an Indian statesman who became the first Prime Minister of independent India and became noted for his “neutralist” policies in foreign affairs. He was also one of the principal leaders of India’s independence movement in the...

, first Prime Minister

Prime minister

A prime minister is the most senior minister of cabinet in the executive branch of government in a parliamentary system. In many systems, the prime minister selects and may dismiss other members of the cabinet, and allocates posts to members within the government. In most systems, the prime...

 of India.

The project

Sri Rama Sagar Reservoir's capacity is 75 billion cubic feet, and it has 42 floodgates. It also includes Kakatia Canal covering 284 km, Laxmi Canal, Sarswati Canal, and Flood flow canal.
Construction of this dam was started in 1957 and is not yet completed.

This project is also locally known as Khustapuram dam. The Khustapuram project proposal was first mooted/investigated by erstwhile Hyderabad state under Nizam rule to utilize 227 thousand million cubic feet (tmc) of upper Godavari river water. This dam site is located in the Nizamabad district of Andhra Pradesh after the confluence of Manjira river with Godavari. Under stage I of this project nearly 1 million acres (4,046.9 km²) irrigation facility is created to utilize 140 tmc water. Stage II of this project is under advanced stage of construction to irrigate 440000 acres (1,780.6 km²) using 25 tmc water. The flood flow canal project is also under implementation to irrigate 200000 acres (809.4 km²) using 20 tmc water available at Pochampadu dam site. The live storage capacity of SS dam is limited to 90 tmc to reduce submergence area in MR up to FRL level 1091 feet (332.5 m) above mean sea level as per the agreement between MR & AP.

Dispute

In the catchment area of this dam, Maharashtra has constructed many medium and minor irrigation projects in excess of its water use entitlements under Godavari water disputes tribunal ( GWDT ). In last nine years, the dependable water availability has reduced to 33% (i.e. water is available once in three years) against the designed dependability of 75% under GWDT. This major irrigation project has become many years unproductive / idle in the last decade. Due to complete utilization of river water in the upstream river basin area, the water quality in the reservoir has high salinity / total dissolved salts which is unsafe for human and cattle consumption. Also the ground water in the lower reaches of Pochampadu dam catchment area would gradually turn unsuitable for irrigation and human consumption. It is high time that central government should constitute a new tribunal to redress this problem and save this old irrigation project.