The Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project in Telangana aims to address water scarcity and boost agriculture. However, it has sparked debate over its environmental impact, financial viability, and long-term effectiveness. Supporters see it as a crucial solution for the region’s water issues, while critics warn of potential ecological and economic pitfalls.
There is a danger that the new government may fall into classic ‘sunken cost fallacy syndrome’. This might include wasting money on techno-engineering fixes and rushing to alternative locations to facilitate more contracts and more loans.
The state of Telangana is celebrating the completion of its first decade of statehood on June 2 in a changed political environment. The Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) referred as the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) now — the party that led the movement for the separate state — and ruled for a decade was defeated in the assembly polls and routed it’s existence in recent Loksabha elections, while the Congress which had introduced the bill in parliament for its statehood, is back in power and now become a stronghold.
During the movement for a separate state, protesters who were fighting for the cause, increasingly used a slogan which basically suggested that this region (Telangana) was being discriminated against with respect to three key sectors — Nellu, Niyamakalu, Nidhulu (water, jobs and public spending) — in the combined state of Andhra Pradesh. Now, it is time to critically evaluate the progress or lack of it in the state, in general and understand its water-related issues, in particular.
Focus on water: What about the results?
During his tenure as a chief minister from 2014 till last November, K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) of the BRS had focused entirely on water and neglected other sectors, particularly education and job creation or employment.
He had launched three projects, with lot of publicity, to resolve the water-related issues — Mission Kakatiya (for revival of the traditional tanks), Mission Bhagiratha (water supply to every household through taps) and Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) (for irrigating an ayacut of 18,25,700 acres against the original proposed ayacut of 16,40,000 acres). The money spent on these projects exceeded Rs 200,000 and most of it was through borrowings.
However, there is no data, no discussion and no debate on the impact of these projects. Within Telangana, the general perception is that though there are some benefits of these projects, these are not comparable with the size of the investments and publicised benefits.
KLIP: Sinking in Godavari sands
The KLIP is not a new project, it was started in the combined state of Andhra Pradesh by the then Congress government as Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahitha-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi Lift Irrigation Scheme (PCSS Project).
The objectives of KLIP also included providing 10 TMC of drinking water to the villages enroute, 30 TMC of drinking water to the twin cities of Hyderabad and Secunderabad and 16 TMC of water for industrial use.
This project was supposed to do all this by lifting 215 TMC of water from the Godavari river after the confluence of the Pranahita river. The complex process involved lifting of water to 450 metres by nine stages to reach the uplands, which are nearly 350 km from the river. Overall, the project was drastically modified and expanded by KCR with massive cost escalation which is likely to be over Rs 1,47,427 crore, as against the cost of Rs 81,911.01 crore projected to the Central Water Commission (CWC), according to Controller and Auditor General (CAG) report.
The project is officially completed but a lot of the work is pending including ayacut development. About Rs 94,000 crore has been reportedly spent already and most of it was borrowed from commercial banks at high interest rates. However, the KLIP has provided dismal benefits so far.
Now, the most important barrage at Medigadda on Godavari river, from where the water is supposed to be lifted, has crumbled last monsoon. The other two barrages also developed structural issues. The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) has evaluated the situation and has given a preliminary report suggesting temporary measures to be taken to avoid the total collapse during the coming monsoon. The final report from NDSA is awaited. So, this means there will not be any pumping for next two years at least.In short, KLIP has now collapsed on its own.
Kaleshwaram project is a classic example of combination of a) an outdated conceptual understanding that water to be provided for irrigation ‘at any cost’ b) lack any economic logic in constructing lift irrigation projects, where the cost of water delivery exceeds the total value of the crop c) EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) method of contracts for mega companies, which lacks transparency or accountability d) no guidelines on borrowing money at commercial interests which mortgage the needs and aspirations of future generations. These are not unique to Telangana state, it is becoming the norm in the entire country. This project is a classic example of more and more public money being spent on mega projects with little or no benefits to farmers or the state.
In 2016, before even the contracts were issued, an independent report by civil society experts was released and submitted to the then state government. The report categorically warned about all the issues which had surfaced, including the cost of water delivery and safety of major structures. Instead of entering into a dialogue to take corrective measures, the state government not only ignored such assessments but termed them as anti-Telangana and anti-people. The Telangana government was then fully aware of the issues which could arise out of the KLIP. However, it still went ahead.
Electoral bonds and KLIP
Mega Engineering and Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) is the main EPC contractor for Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. Data indicates that MEIL purchased Rs 966 crore worth electoral bonds which were given to various political parties — Rs 584 crore went to the BJP and the BRS redeemed Rs 195 crore worth of bonds bought by the company.
The connection between the KLIP contract and the relatively large sums of money received by the regional party from MEIL may not be entirely unrelated and or a coincidence.
What can the current government do?
The new government has inherited this project in a very bad shape. It has to deal with three immediate challenges related to this project a) crumbling key infrastructure b) debt service to the tune of Rs 13,000 per year c) the possible water shortage if monsoon is weak and delayed d) the political pressure to create the public perception that KLIP is not being operated by fixing the ‘minor’ issues.
So far the new government, maybe due to elections, did not focus much on KLIP. In fact, no strategy has been articulated for the project either. Right now, the Telangana government seems to be engaged, what can be termed as ‘reactive firefighting’. This includes a) undertaking the preliminary repairs as suggested by NDSA interim report b) commissioning probes on financial irregularities c) constituting internal committees to help NDSA to come out with the final report on the crumbling infrastructure.
This process will not address the core issues related to KLIP, some of them are articulated in the recent CAG report. At best the current measures by the Telangana government may buy some time, political face saving and postpone the issues. The state government needs to engage in serious and comprehensive process to find out the definitive answers for the following questions:
- Will these three barrages on Godavari river be safe after all the repairs suggested by the NDSA are completed?
- Is it possible to lift 215 TMC of water, even if the system functions properly?
- Is it really possible to provide irrigation to 18,25,700 acres ?
- What could be the real cost of operating the entire system?
- What is the reasonable cost of water delivery for each ac of irrigation?
- Is the major reservoir Mallannasagar safe as and when 50 TMC of water is filled up?
- Are there any clear alternatives which are cheaper and faster to bring water to Yellampally?
- Is there a different approach to support farmers instead of the high cost of water delivery through lift irrigation?
Specific measures
Now that the elections are over, the state government needs to seriously focus on KLIP by initiating these specific steps suggested below:
Dialogue with the union government in partial loan waiver and loan restructuring.
Commission an independent technical review of the KLIP with competent and reputed agencies, outside of the union and state government agencies.
In parallel, request the CWC, NDSA for thorough evaluation of safety and security of the infrastructure pertaining to KLIP, including Mallannasagar.
Establishing internal institutional mechanisms to deal with KLIP.
Develop a comprehensive water perspective plan in order to meet the goals and aspirations of the state.
There is a danger that the new government may fall into classic ‘sunken cost fallacy syndrome’. This might include wasting money on techno-engineering fixes and rushing to alternative locations to facilitate more contracts and more loans. It is, therefore, important to underline that the Revant Reddy government must not invest any money on this project until and unless such spending is part of the recommendations of an independent technical review. #hydnews #khabarlive
