The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP), considered to be one of the world’s largest multi-purpose projects, is known to have increased the production of foodgrain, particularly paddy, in Telangana over the last five years. However, the project, with its long water tunnels, aqueducts, underground surge pools, and large pumps, has been synonymous with controversy from the stage of conceptualisation.
Problems with the project
The Congress, which recently assumed power in the State, has been opposing the KLIP from the start as the project has practically reduced the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahitha-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi (PCSS) project, conceived by the Congress in 2007 and meant to harness water from the Pranahita tributary of the Godavari river for use in Telangana, to a non-starter. Despite not getting the nod from Maharashtra for the Tummidihetti Barrage, the take-off point of the PCSS, the Congress government in erstwhile combined Andhra Pradesh executed parts of the canal network.
