Hyderabad: With a view to overcome the last hurdle in the construction of Sammakka Sagar Project, Telangana Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy has once again urged Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai to give No Objection Certificate (NOC), so that the Inter-State Directorate’s appraisal can be obtained.
Uttam Kumar Reddy met the chief minister of Chhattisgarh during the latter’s visit to Hyderabad on Thursday night, June 11, and urged the latter to extend his cooperation by issuing the pending NOC for the Sammakka Sagar Project, formerly known as the Tupakulagudem Barrage.
He informed the Chhattisgarh chief minister that all the directorates of the Central Water Commission (CWC), except the Inter-State Directorate, had already accorded clearances to the project, and that the absence of the NOC alone was preventing further appraisal of the Detailed Project Report (DPR).
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Addressing Chhattisgarh’s concerns
The Inter-State Directorate’s appraisal requires a formal NOC from Chhattisgarh because portions of the project’s backwater and submergence impacts have to be assessed within that state.
Uttam Kumar Reddy noted that engineers from both states had earlier conducted a joint survey of the submergence area, and subsequently, the Chhattisgarh government had sought a more detailed survey involving the demarcation of Full Reservoir Level (FRL) and backwater levels to accurately assess the extent of land and villages likely to be affected.
He also informed that the Telangana government had agreed to bear the entire cost of the survey and released Rs 9.883 crore to the Chhattisgarh Water Resources Department in April 2026. The survey is presently underway in Bijapur district of Chhattisgarh.
Telangana government has also assured the neighbouring state that compensation for any lands identified as affected due to submergence or backwater impact would be paid in accordance with the applicable laws and procedures. The state government has repeatedly conveyed its willingness to deposit compensation amount in advance, if required for issuance of the NOC.
Responding positively, Vishnu Deo Sai has assured that the matter would be examined sympathetically.
With the backwater survey currently underway, Telangana having deposited the required survey funds, and both states engaged in constructive dialogue, there is growing optimism that the long-awaited NOC could finally be issued in the coming months.
About Sammakka Sagar Project
The Sammakka Sagar Project traces its origins to the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government’s PV Narasimha Rao Kanthanapally Sujala Sravanthi Scheme, which envisaged construction of a barrage across the Godavari River near Kanthanapally in the present-day Mulugu region, for diversion of Godavari waters to stabilise the ayacut under the Stage 2 of the Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP).
After the formation of Telangana in 2014, the project underwent a major redesign under the the state government’s irrigation re-engineering programme.
Detailed technical studies had concluded that shifting the barrage downstream to Tupakulagudem in Mulugu district could be technically superior, economically more viable, and could substantially reduce the submergence concerns in Chhattisgarh.
The project has been designed to divert 46.96 Thousand Million Cubicfeet (TMC) of Godavari waters for the stabilisation of 4.40 lakh acres under SRSP Stage 2, and the creation of a new ayacut of 30,000 acres under the Ramappa-Pakhal Link Canal.
Total ayacut under the project
A maximum ayacut of 2,34,199 acres will be irrigated in Suryapet district, 96,494 acres in Mahabubabad district, 85,774 acres in Khammam district, 22,422 acres in Warangal district, and 1,111 acres in Jangaon district through the originally intended project.
The Ramappa-Pakhal Link Canal component of the project would irrigate an additional 8,000 acres in Mulugu district, and 22,000 acres in Warangal (Narsampet region).
Beyond irrigation, the Sammakka Sagar Project will also support stabilisation of portions of the J Chokka Rao Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme and provide drinking water to hundreds of villages located along the canal network in the erstwhile Warangal and Khammam districts.
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