North Telangana Gets Irrigation Boost as CM Inaugurates Two Major Barrages

North Telangana marked a significant milestone in its irrigation journey on Friday as Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy inaugurated two major irrigation projects the Chanak–Korata Barrage and the Sadarmat Barrage bringing long-awaited relief to farmers in Adilabad and Nirmal districts.

The Chief Minister formally dedicated the projects to the nation and released water into the Lower Penganga project’s main canal after performing traditional rituals. He said the projects would provide reliable irrigation support to farmers in the erstwhile Adilabad district, easing long-standing dependence on erratic rainfall.

Later in the day, Revanth Reddy inaugurated the Sadarmat Barrage at Ponkal village in Mamda mandal of Nirmal district and released water for the ongoing Yasangi (rabi) crop. Farmers, watching water reach their fields, expressed visible joy. Interacting with them, the Chief Minister said farmer welfare lay at the heart of the Congress government’s priorities and reiterated the goal of ensuring irrigation to every acre.

The Chief Minister noted that several irrigation projects had remained incomplete for nearly two years and said the government had taken up their completion on a priority basis. “Diverting river water into tanks and canals and ensuring irrigation coverage for every cultivable acre remains our mission,” he said, adding that the Sadarmat project had been fast-tracked to meet farmers’ immediate needs.

Revanth Reddy said the satisfaction of seeing water flow into fields during the cropping season was the government’s greatest reward, underlining that a prosperous farmer was essential for a prosperous state.

Ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and Jupally Krishna Rao , former minister Indrakaran Reddy , government adviser P. Sudarshan Reddy , MP G. Nagesh , senior officials, public representatives, and large numbers of farmers attended the inauguration events. Officials said full utilisation of the projects would give a fresh push to agricultural growth across North Telangana.

KTR Welcomes Project Launch, Credits Previous Government

Meanwhile, BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao welcomed the formal inauguration of the two projects, noting that both were initiated during the tenure of former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and were more than 90 per cent complete before the change in government.

In a post on X, KTR said the projects were conceived to address irrigation shortages and boost regional crop production, calling them an important step in Telangana’s agricultural transformation.

He said the Chanak–Korata Barrage, with a storage capacity of 0.98 TMC, had completed trial runs in September 2023 and was nearly finished. The project, along with its lift irrigation component, is designed to supply water to about 51,000 acres across 89 villages in the Adilabad and Boath constituencies. He added that the project was taken up in 2016 after an interstate agreement with Maharashtra.

KTR also said the Sadarmat Barrage, with a storage capacity of 1.58 TMC, would provide irrigation to around 18,000 acres in Nirmal and Jagtial districts, adding that most of the work had been completed during the previous BRS government.

He noted that between 2014 and 2023, the focus on irrigation had played a key role in revitalising Telangana’s farms and villages, and said the two barrages would continue to reduce water stress and improve agricultural output in the region.