Koraput farmers worry over continuous water leakage from Telengiri dam, fear losing Ravi crops

With water from the reservoir of the Telengiri Multi-Purpose Irrigation project in Koraput district leaking continuously, farmers are in fear, thinking they may not get water to raise crops in Ravi season. 

The Telengiri Irrigation project is dubbed as the dream project of the Koraput district. But with the water from its reservoir being released continuously for the last one month, the water level of the reservoir is drastically falling. The farmers are worried about how they would raise Ravi crops.

“For the last one month, water has been flowing out of the dam continuously. We feel our blood is flowing there. We are sure that we won’t get water in the coming Ravi season. As a result, the spectre of migration is looming large,” said Chitrasen Mishra, a farmer of Podapadar village. 

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A farmer from Borigumma village, Gopal Bhatt said, “We the farmers have lost the hope of Ravi crops. As many as 24,000 farmers are going to face problems.” 

On the other hand, the Telengiri Irrigation project authorities are sitting idle ascribing the continuous flow of water to leakage.  

Meanwhile, a technical team from Visakhapatnam visited the spot and inspected the site. 

“It can’t be termed as leakage. It may either be human error or construction error. The sluice gate may also have damages,” said Trilochan Panda, a retired chief engineer of the Irrigation Department.

When contacted, additional chief engineer of the Telengiri Irrigation project Siba Prasad Panigrahi said, “Plugging will be done after the water reaches 596 level. As there will be plugging, farmers may not get water for Ravi crops.” 

Repair work will be carried out in the first or second week of January after the entire water from the reservoir is released, he added.