Mallanna Sagar: CM KCR inaugurates India's 'biggest artificial reservoir' in Telangana

In a major relief to the people of Telangana, Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao inaugurated the mammoth Mallanna Sagar reservoir, which was constructed as part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), and dedicated it to the nation on Wednesday.  He performed a special puja at the reservoir before releasing the Godavari River water into Mallanna Sagar on the Tukkapur Surge Pool. Finance Minister T Harish Rao, MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, MLAs, MLCs, and officials participated in the inauguration ceremony.

The inauguration of the project also marked the completion of all the reservoirs on the main trunk of the KLIS. Mallannasagar, centrally located in Telangana, will cater to the irrigation needs and drinking water requirements of the entire State.

Mallanna Sagar: India's 'biggest artificial reservoir'

Billed as 'Mother of all reservoirs', Mallanna Sagar has a storage capacity of 50 TMCft and was constructed at the cost of Rs 6,805 crores between Thoguta and Kondapak mandals. This will be the second-largest storage reservoir in the Godavari River basin after Sriramsagar reservoir and is also being termed as the biggest artificial reservoir in India which will be filled entirely through other sources and not by the water received from its self-catchment area.

Besides fulfilling the drinking water needs of Hyderabad, Secunderabad and other surrounding districts, the Mallanna Sagar water will also be used for the state's industrial needs. The project will also provide irrigation water to 8.33 lakh acres of new ayacut and stabilize the area under existing irrigation projects such as Singur, Nizam Sagar, and Sriram Sagar phase-1, taking the total ayacut under the project to 15.71 lakh acres.

The trial run for filling Mallannasagar had started on August 22 last year, and the reservoir was successfully filled with 10.50 TMC of water. Of the eight pumps each of 43 MW installed at the reservoir, six pumps have been successfully discharging 6,600 cusecs (0.66 TMC/day) into it.