Three damaged barrages, a Rs 4,193 crore repair bill, and a hard deadline before year-end — Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy convened a high-level review on Thursday, 5 November 2026, directing officials to restore the Medigadda, Annaram, and Sundilla barrages of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project strictly in line with recommendations from central government bodies and dam safety experts.

What the review meeting decided

The Chief Minister's Office of Telangana posted a detailed account of the review, in which CM Revanth Reddy instructed engineers and ministers that the government bears the responsibility of ensuring the mistakes of the previous administration are not repeated. Irrigation Department engineers briefed the CM through a PowerPoint presentation, explaining that water visible at Medigadda cannot technically be lifted under present structural conditions — a point the CM asked ministers to actively counter in public discourse, calling ongoing claims to the contrary 'misinformation.'

The presentation made clear that for water lifted at Medigadda to reach Yellampalli, the gates at Annaram and Sundilla must be closed. However, the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) has specifically warned that those gates must remain open due to structural defects — leaving the system effectively inoperable until restoration is complete.

Rs 4,193 crore plan and who pays what

Officials presented a restoration proposal estimated at approximately Rs 4,193 crore, already granted in-principle approval by a central government expert committee. The cost-sharing framework is pointed: repair expenses arising from construction defects will be borne by the construction companies responsible, while costs for additional remedial works will be absorbed by the state government. Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy and department officials walked the meeting through the detailed restoration plan.

CM Revanth directed all processes to run in parallel to avoid delays. He set a target of securing final central approvals by the end of this month and commencing physical works before the end of 2026. Restoration and protection works are to be executed in two phases, with NDSA guidelines as the non-negotiable benchmark.

Godavari water use and the Pranhita argument

The CM presented the government's water-utilisation record as evidence that Kaleshwaram's paralysis has not halted Godavari-based irrigation. He stated that through the Devadula and Sitarama lift schemes, 24.81 TMC of Godavari waters had been utilised by October this year — 16.71 TMC via Devadula and 8.10 TMC via Sitarama — supplying irrigation and drinking water to the erstwhile districts of Warangal, Nalgonda, and Khammam.

He also invoked the unbuilt Pranhita project, arguing that had a barrage been constructed at Tummidihatti and the Pranhita scheme completed, the state would have had a low-cost, drought-resilient alternative to bring water to Yellampalli. The remark was a pointed critique of strategic choices made under the previous BRS government, which formally inaugurated the Kaleshwaram project in 2019.

Officials and the road to central clearance

The meeting was attended by Irrigation Secretary Sridhar, Tunnels and Safety Secretary Colonel Parikshit Mehra, Joint Secretary Srinivas, and other senior officials. A comprehensive structural study of all three barrages has been completed with inputs from national-level experts and central technical agencies, officials confirmed. CM Revanth directed them to coordinate urgently with central government bodies to expedite the remaining approvals.

The Kaleshwaram project, the most expensive irrigation initiative in Telangana's history, now has a concrete restoration timeline and a price tag. Whether the approvals land before November's end will determine if the state's farming belt gets its lifeline back before the next kharif season.