KALESHWARAM PROJECT

Subject: Infrastructure

Context: The National Green Tribunal has held that environmental clearance to Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project was granted ex post facto, after completion of substantial work, by the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change “in violation of law”.

Concept:

• The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme of Telangana is a multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in Kaleshwaram, Bhupalpally in Telangana.
• The project starts at the confluence point of Pranahita River and Godavari River.
• Originally called Pranahita-Chevella project in erstwhile Andhra Pradesh, it was redesigned, extended and renamed as Kaleshwaram project in Telangana in 2014.
• The project will also support Mission Kakatiya and Mission Bhagiratha schemes of telangana designed to provide drinking water to many villages and improve the capacities of tanks.

Additional Information:

Godavari River

• The Godavari is India’s second longest river after the Ganga.
• Source: Trimbakeshwar, Maharashtra.
• Areas drained: It flows east for 1,465 kilometres, draining the states of Maharashtra, Telangana, Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Odisha, and Karnataka, ultimately emptying into the Bay of Bengal through its extensive network of tributaries.
• Tributaries: The major tributaries of the river are classified as the left bank tributaries which include the Purna, Pranhita, Indravati and Sabari River and the right bank tributaries are Pravara, Manjira, Manair.
• Kumbh Mela is held at Nasik (on the Godavari), Prayagraj (at the confluence of Ganga, Yamuna, and the mythical Saraswati), Haridwar (on the Ganges), and Ujjain (on the Shipra) every four years by rotation.
• Sadarmatt Anicut across river Godavari is one among the two irrigation projects in the International Commission on Irrigation and Drainage (ICID) Register of Heritage Irrigation Structures.

Pranahita River

• Pranahita River is the largest tributary of the Godavari river covering about 34% of its drainage basin.
• It is a confluence of various other smaller tributaries like Wardha, Penganga and Wainganga Rivers.