Rayalaseema’s Water Woes: Gundrevula Project Holds the Key

The drought-prone Rayalaseema region continues to face a paradox in water management despite being flanked by two major rivers — Krishna and Tungabhadra. While the Krishna River has a vast reservoir, there are no assured allocations for Rayalaseema; on the other hand, the Tungabhadra has allocations but no major storage facilities.

Adding to the irony, surplus Krishna waters are being released downstream from Srisailam towards the Prakasam Barrage, while surplus Godavari waters are lifted from Prakasam towards Srisailam, leaving Rayalaseema dry and neglected.

The long-pending Gundrevula Project on the Tungabhadra River is seen as a potential game-changer. Conceived as a balancing reservoir 15 km upstream of Sunkesula Barrage with a storage capacity of 20.15 TMC, it aims to ensure effective utilisation of the 39.9 TMC Tungabhadra allocation made to the KC Canal under the Bachawat Tribunal.

The project, sanctioned in February 2019 at a cost of ₹2,890 crore, was inaugurated by then Chief Minister. However, its progress stalled as Telangana began drawing 5.44 TMC of Tungabhadra water through the Tummilla Lift Irrigation Project, reducing inflows to Sunkesula.

Once completed, Gundrevula would stabilise irrigation over 2.65 lakh acres in Nandyal, Kurnool, and Kadapa districts, benefiting both Andhra Pradesh and Telangana. The minimal submergence, 2,371 acres in Telangana and 4,464 acres in Andhra Pradesh, is outweighed by the regional gains.

Experts emphasise that Gundrevula would not only mitigate floods but also transform Rayalaseema’s drought-prone landscape into a stable irrigation zone. The people of the region now await the state government’s decisive action to revive this crucial project.