Kaleshwaram project remains idle with 104 pumps inactive for two years

Telangana’s Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, once hailed as the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation project, is today facing the perils of neglect.

Designed to irrigate 37 lakh acres across the State, it has been crippled by deliberate neglect and inactivity. Barring a few of the 104 high-capacity pumping units spread across 19 pump houses, including the key Medigadda (Kannepalli), Annaram and Sundilla facilities, most have remained dormant for over four crop seasons. 

These pumps, with capacities ranging from 27 MW to 139 MW,



are designed to lift Godavari river water to elevations of up to 618 metres.

Maintenance lapses, delayed repairs and regulatory hurdles over the past two years have taken a toll on their condition. 

Devastating floods in July 2022 and heavy monsoons in the following years submerged a few of them. By July 2023, they were fully restored with a focus on overhauling the 35 first-phase units at Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla.

Though the three barrages have remained idle ever since the Congress came to power two years ago