Farmers await implementation of Narayanpet-Kodangal lift irrigation scheme

The Narayanpet-Kodangal lift irrigation scheme, meant to irrigate dry upland areas of Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal constituencies in erstwhile Palamuru district, has remained unimplemented for a decade. GO No. 69 was issued on 23 May 2014. First-phase sanction of Rs 133.50 crore included Rs 3.36 crore for survey and Rs 130.50 crore for land acquisition. The proposal lifts water from Bhoothpur reservoir in four stages to irrigate one lakh acres. Farmers want the promise on GO 69 honoured.

Written by AI from Narayanpet — నీరు · సాగునీరు · not yet reviewed by an editor · Published 30 Sept 2026, 1:29 am IST

Source

Narayanpet — నీరు · సాగునీరు · read the original report ↗

#irrigation#narayanpet#kodangal#krishna water#go 69#farmers

Desk check · compared with the source

What the desk checked (5)

GO No. 69 was issued on 23 May 2014 by the then Governor to implement the orders for the lift irrigation scheme. — Specific date and GO number appear in the source; attributed to official orders but no document cited.
First-phase administrative sanction of Rs 133.50 crore, with Rs 3.36 crore for preliminary survey and Rs 130.50 crore for land acquisition. — Figures appear in the source; internally the components do not sum exactly to the stated total, an editor should check.
The scheme is designed to lift water from Bhoothpur reservoir in four stages up to Kanukurti and then by gravity via Doultabad and Kodangal to Bommarraspet, irrigating one lakh acres. — Attributed in the source to local leaders, not to an official project report.
Revanth Reddy promised during the elections to implement GO 69 and provide irrigation to Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal constituencies. — Attributed to election campaign statements as relayed by local public organisations; no direct quote given.
CPM district secretary Venkatram Reddy says 7.5 TMC was allotted to the scheme and cycle rallies were held from 2005. — Directly quoted and attributed to a named person in the source.

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Analysts’ view opinion

AI Economic Analyst

This is essentially a story about opportunity cost. Administrative sanction of Rs 133.50 crore for phase one — Rs 130.50 crore for land acquisition and Rs 3.36 crore for survey — came with GO 69 in 2014, yet a decade on nothing has been executed, leaving dry-land farmers in Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal dependent on rain and borewells. Assured water for a lakh acres could lift cropping intensity, yields and rural wage-days; but a four-stage lift scheme also means a permanent power and maintenance bill, and the story does not establish who carries it.

Delay is not free: construction costs and land prices rise over time, so a 2014 estimate of Rs 133.50 crore is unlikely to buy the same work today.
Almost the entire first-phase allocation (Rs 130.50 crore) is for land acquisition, so this is a start-up cost, not the project's full capital requirement, which the story does not state.
The beneficiaries are clearly identified: upland farmers left out by the existing Jurala, Nettempadu, Bhima and Kalwakurthy systems, where water security would raise farm incomes, land values and local trade.
The recurring weak spot of lift irrigation is the electricity bill — pumping water through four stages implies an annual subsidy burden that ultimately sits on the state budget.
The choice of alignment is itself an economic argument: local groups contend that drawing from the nearer Bhoothpur reservoir beats carrying water from 150 km upstream, and lower submergence would also mean lower resettlement costs.

What to watch — Watch the next state budget for a specific line item, a revised cost estimate and the actual start of land acquisition — only then does the promise convert into spending.

The story does not establish the project's total cost, any revised estimate, the funding source, a completion timeline, or when the new government will actually begin work.

Deep dive

Research brief · 8 facts · 6 dates · exam-ready

The brief

Context

The Narayanpet-Kodangal lift irrigation scheme is a long-pending demand of farmers in the dry upland (metta) areas of Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal constituencies in the erstwhile Palamuru (Mahabubnagar) district of Telangana. Though the Krishna river enters Telangana at Thangidigi in Krishna mandal of Narayanpet district, upland parts of the district still get no Krishna water, and existing projects — Jurala, Nettempadu, Bhima and Kalwakurthy — cannot serve these tracts. A government order, GO No. 69, was issued on 23 May 2014 with first-phase administrative sanction, but it has not been implemented in nearly a decade. The BRS government had promised to supply water to the area through the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift scheme, while Congress leader Revanth Reddy promised in the elections to implement GO 69.

Key facts

GO No. 69 for the scheme was issued by the then Governor on 23 May 2014; it has not been implemented for about ten years.
First-phase administrative sanction was Rs 133.50 crore: Rs 3.36 crore for preliminary survey and Rs 130.50 crore for land acquisition.
The design lifts water from Bhoothpur reservoir (part of the Bhima lift scheme) in four stages up to Kanukurthi, then by gravity via Daulatabad and Kodangal up to Bommarraspet, filling tanks.
Target command area: one lakh acres of irrigation in Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal constituencies.
CPM district secretary Venkatram Reddy says 7.5 TMC was earmarked for the scheme, which began as the Jayamma Cheruvu lift proposal and was later renamed Kodangal-Narayanpet lift scheme.
The Krishna river enters Telangana at Thangidigi in Krishna mandal of Narayanpet district, yet upland areas of the district receive no Krishna water.
The Palamuru-Rangareddy scheme, promised by the BRS government for this area, was not completed in nine and a half years.
Original plan was to lift water from Jurala backwaters via Yellampalli in Narva mandal and build a reservoir at Koilkonda, but the alignment was changed due to heavy submergence.

Timeline

Before 2005 (Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy's tenure as CM)Farmers held a cycle rally and submitted a petition seeking the Jayamma Cheruvu lift irrigation scheme.
After 2005A cycle yatra was taken up under CPM leadership to press the demand before the Chief Minister.
23 May 2014The then Governor issued GO No. 69 directing implementation of the first-phase sanction of Rs 133.50 crore.
Over the following decadeAgitations, padayatras from Bhoothpur reservoir to Kodangal and public meetings by Jalasadhana Samithi and opposition leaders; scheme stayed unimplemented.
Telangana assembly elections (2023)Revanth Reddy promised that a Congress government would implement GO No. 69 and irrigate Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal.
31 December 2023Report published noting farmers await implementation of the scheme by the new government.

Who has a stake

Farmers of upland (metta) areas in Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal — Assured irrigation for about one lakh acres that existing projects cannot serve.
Telangana government (new Congress government) — Must deliver on the election promise to implement GO No. 69 and take up the lift scheme.
Revanth Reddy — Made the poll promise to implement GO 69 and make the three constituencies fertile; credibility at stake.
BRS government / KCR — Promised water to Narayanpet-Kodangal through the Palamuru-Rangareddy project; plan opposed locally and not delivered in nine and a half years.
Jalasadhana Samithi and local people's organisations — Campaigned via padayatras and public meetings for GO 69 and nikara (assured) water instead of the Palamuru-Rangareddy route.
CPM (district secretary Venkatram Reddy) — Led early cycle rallies and yatras; claims 7.5 TMC was allotted to the scheme and seeks extension up to Kodangal.

Why it matters

Erstwhile Palamuru is among Telangana's most drought-prone regions, and the paradox of the Krishna entering the state in Narayanpet district while its uplands remain rain-fed underlines how command-area design, not water availability alone, decides who gets irrigation. A sanctioned order left unexecuted for a decade shows how administrative approvals without funds and land acquisition become election currency rather than delivery. The outcome will test whether the new government prioritises a smaller, local lift scheme over a mega project.

UPSC angle

Prelims pointers

GO No. 69, dated 23 May 2014, relates to the Narayanpet-Kodangal lift irrigation scheme in erstwhile Palamuru district, Telangana.
First-phase sanction: Rs 133.50 crore (Rs 3.36 crore survey + Rs 130.50 crore land acquisition).
Water is proposed to be lifted from Bhoothpur reservoir, part of the Bhima lift irrigation scheme, in four stages to irrigate one lakh acres.
Existing lift/irrigation projects in erstwhile Palamuru district: Jurala, Nettempadu, Bhima and Kalwakurthy.
The Krishna river enters Telangana at Thangidigi village, Krishna mandal, Narayanpet district.
Constituencies covered by the proposed scheme: Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal.

Mains framing

The Narayanpet-Kodangal lift irrigation case illustrates the gap between sanction and execution in Indian irrigation planning. Despite the Krishna entering Telangana in Narayanpet district, the upland tracts of Makthal, Narayanpet and Kodangal lie outside the command of Jurala, Nettempadu, Bhima and Kalwakurthy, creating a pocket of rain-dependent agriculture. A first-phase administrative sanction of Rs 133.50 crore under GO No. 69 (23 May 2014) — mostly for land acquisition — never translated into works, while the alternative promise of supplying the area through the mega Palamuru-Rangareddy scheme remained incomplete for nine and a half years and was opposed locally on the ground that going 150 km upstream on the Krishna is less reliable than lifting assured water from the nearby Bhoothpur reservoir. Design changes, too, cost time: the original Jurala-backwater route via Yellampalli with a reservoir at Koilkonda was abandoned because of heavy submergence. The way forward, as demanded by farmers, Jalasadhana Samithi and CPM, is to revive GO 69 with time-bound land acquisition, survey and phased funding, clarity on the 7.5 TMC allocation, and transparent sequencing so that tank-filling by gravity from Kanukurthi through Daulatabad and Kodangal to Bommarraspet actually delivers the promised one lakh acres, rather than the scheme resurfacing at every election.

Key terms

Lift irrigation scheme: A project that pumps water up from a river or reservoir, often in stages, to irrigate higher-elevation land that gravity canals cannot reach.
GO No. 69 (23 May 2014): Government order directing implementation of the first-phase sanction of Rs 133.50 crore for the Narayanpet-Kodangal lift scheme.
Bhoothpur reservoir: Reservoir forming part of the Bhima lift irrigation scheme, proposed as the source from which water would be lifted in four stages.
Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme: Large Krishna-based project through which the BRS government promised water to Narayanpet-Kodangal; opposed by local bodies as unreliable for the area.
Metta (upland) areas: Dry, higher-elevation tracts that existing canal command areas do not cover, dependent largely on rainfall.
Jalasadhana Samithi: Local people's organisation that led padayatras and public meetings from Bhoothpur to Kodangal demanding implementation of GO 69.

Practice questions

Why do upland areas within a river's own basin often remain outside irrigation command areas? Discuss with reference to the Narayanpet-Kodangal lift irrigation scheme.
Examine the reasons why administratively sanctioned irrigation projects in India remain unimplemented for years, using the case of GO No. 69 of 2014 in Telangana.
Compare the merits of small, locally sourced lift irrigation schemes with large multi-stage inter-basin projects for drought-prone regions such as erstwhile Palamuru district.

Grounded only in the source report — figures and dates are the source's, not inferred.

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