Previous Year Question

The question refers to Andhra Pradesh’s Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme, through which water from the Godavari was transferred to the Krishna River using the Polavaram Right Main Canal.

The project became operational from 2015-16, establishing a functional transfer of water between the Godavari and Krishna river systems.

Working of the Pattiseema scheme

• The Pattiseema Project is situated on the right bank of the Godavari River in Andhra Pradesh.

• It lifts floodwater from the Godavari using pumping stations.

• The lifted water is discharged into the Polavaram Right Main Canal.

• The canal carries the water through the West Godavari and Krishna regions towards the Krishna River.

• Its designed transfer capacity is approximately 240 cubic metres per second or 8,500 cusecs.

• The scheme was designed to transfer approximately 80 TMC of Godavari water to the Krishna system.

• The transferred water reaches the Krishna near the Ibrahimpatnam region close to Vijayawada.

Need for the project

• During the monsoon, a large quantity of water in the lower Godavari flows into the Bay of Bengal.

• In contrast, several regions dependent upon the Krishna system experience irrigation-water shortages.

• The scheme was intended to use surplus monsoon flows of the Godavari to stabilise irrigation in the Krishna Delta.

• Supplying Godavari water to the Krishna Delta enables a greater share of Krishna water stored in the Srisailam system to be made available towards drought-prone Rayalaseema.

• It was developed to provide some of the anticipated benefits of the Polavaram Multipurpose Project before the completion of that project.

Godavari River

• The Godavari originates in the Brahmagiri Hills near Trimbakeshwar in Nashik district of Maharashtra.

• At approximately 1,465 kilometres, it is the longest river of Peninsular India and the second-longest river in India.

• Because of its extensive basin, it is known as the Dakshin Ganga or Ganga of the South.

• It flows through Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh, while its basin also extends into Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and Karnataka.

• Its major tributaries include the Purna, Manjira, Penganga, Wardha, Wainganga, Pranhita, Indravati and Sabari.

• It forms an extensive delta in Andhra Pradesh before entering the Bay of Bengal.

Krishna River

• The Krishna originates in the Western Ghats near Mahabaleshwar in Maharashtra.

• It is a major east-flowing river associated with Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.

• Its important tributaries include the Koyna, Panchganga, Ghataprabha, Malaprabha, Bhima, Tungabhadra and Musi.

• It forms a delta in Andhra Pradesh before entering the Bay of Bengal.

• Nagarjuna Sagar, Srisailam and Prakasam Barrage are important projects of the Krishna river system.

River-link sequence

Godavari → Pattiseema pumping station → Polavaram Right Main Canal → Krishna River