Industries Minister KT Rama Rao spoke at the World Environmental and Water Resources Congress 2023. He shared that Telangana had transformed into a new rice bowl of India with the Kaleshwaram project. This project irrigates 9 million acres of land with two crop cycles and has increased paddy production by fourfold. The ground water level also increased by six meters, and the cultivable area has increased from 2.5 million acres to 9.7 million acres. Planned investments in new irrigation projects and revitalisation of existing systems contributed to this expansion.
Before 2014, farmers in Telangana faced many difficulties, such as lack of irrigation facilities and no support for farming from the government. However, Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao had a clear vision of transforming Telangana and improving lives through strategic planning, innovative thinking and meticulous executions. The completion of the Kaleshwaram project stands as a testament to exceptional leadership and ability to turn ambitious ideas into concrete achievements.
The Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project is an engineering marvel, spanning a vast distance of 500 km with 13 districts and an extensive canal network of 1800 km. The project aims to utilise 240,000 cubic feet of water for irrigation, drinking water and industry consumption. The project helped in the Green Revolution with improved paddy production, White Revolution in the form of Milk production capacity growing by 380 per cent, and the Pink revolution with improved livestock production.
Rama Rao shared that Telangana is the first state to have completed piped drinking water in the name of Mission Bhagiratha. These two remarkable projects were not only completed in a record time but also with utmost efficiency and cost effectiveness. The State has gone up from 24th to 2nd in paddy cultivation.
The Minister concluded that KCR, the Chief Minister, recognised untapped potential of River Godavari flowing at a lower elevation and assumed the role of a chief architect and engineer. He invested 11 billion Dollars into the project and completed it within four years. The completion of this project has uplifted millions of lives.
