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Kaleshwaram: how water climbs 518 metres

The Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project was built to lift Godavari water from Medigadda, 100 m above sea level, to reservoirs on the Deccan plateau up to 618 m. Explore every barrage, pump house and reservoir on the map, follow the water from start to finish, and see the figures from the official audit.

Since late 2023 the three barrages have not held water, so the first stage cannot run. Pump houses higher up have run on Yellampalli water. Read the full history and the disputes

The project on the map

Choose any barrage, pump house or reservoir for its figures and status, or follow the water from Medigadda to Kondapochamma Sagar.

Map of the Kaleshwaram project between Medigadda on the Godavari and Kondapochamma Sagar, showing the rivers, the three barrages, the pump houses, the reservoirs and the canals.MedigaddaLakshmiAnnaramSaraswatiSundillaParvathiYellampalliNandiMedaramGayatriMid ManairLower ManairSriram SagarUpper ManairAnnapurnaAnantagiriChandlapurRanganayaka SagarTukkapurMallanna SagarAkkaramMarkookKondapochammaTummidihatti
  • Barrage
  • Pump house
  • Reservoir
  • Water route
  • Proposed barrage
  • Approximate position

Rivers, reservoirs, canals and structure locations © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL). Figures from the CAG audit and the irrigation department unless stated. The water route joins the structures in flow order; the real canals and tunnels are drawn beneath it. Positions marked as approximate have no public map location. 3D map: basemap © OpenFreeMap and OpenStreetMap contributors; terrain from Mapzen and AWS Open Data; satellite imagery © Esri, Maxar, Earthstar Geographics. Place names on the basemap are in English.

The climb: from 100 m to 618 m

Each block is a pond or reservoir at its full level; each purple riser is a lift by one or more pump houses. Choose a step to find it on the map.

Elevation of the main chain: Medigadda 100 m, Annaram 119 m, Sundilla 130 m, Yellampalli 148 m, Medaram 233 m, Mid Manair 318 m, Anantagiri 397 m, Ranganayaka Sagar 490 m, Mallanna Sagar 557 m and Kondapochamma Sagar 618 m.100200300400500600Metres above sea levelLift (m)100 mMedigadda+19119 mAnnaram+11130 mSundilla+18148 mYellampalli+85233 mMedaram+85318 mMid Manair+79397 mAnantagiri+93490 mRanganayaka Sagar+67557 mMallanna Sagar+61618 mKondapochamma

Levels are full reservoir levels (CAG line diagrams). A lift is the rise between levels; a pump's own design head can be higher (Nandi 105.5 m, Gayatri 118 m). Distances are not to scale: the sources publish no chainage.

The project is split into seven links. Final contract values from the CAG audit; command areas from the irrigation department.

All 56 works together: ₹1,02,268 crore in final contract values. The CAG put the likely final cost of the whole project, with interest during construction, at ₹1,47,427 crore.

Storage and power, side by side

Storage (TMC)

  1. Mallanna Sagar50 TMC
  2. Mid Manair25.875 TMC
  3. Yellampalli20.175 TMC
  4. Medigadda16.17 TMC
  5. Kondapochamma15 TMC
  6. Annaram10.87 TMC
  7. Sundilla8.83 TMC
  8. Anantagiri3.5 TMC
  9. Ranganayaka Sagar3 TMC
  10. Medaram0.78 TMC

Installed pumping power (MW)

  1. Gayatri973 MW
  2. Nandi871 MW
  3. Lakshmi680 MW
  4. Tukkapur668 MW
  5. Parvathi560 MW
  6. Chandlapur537.76 MW
  7. Saraswati480 MW
  8. Annapurna424 MW
  9. Markook204 MW
  10. Akkaram162 MW

For the main contracts; the parallel "additional TMC" works add more. Installed power across the project is 8,459 MW.

The water: the plan and what was lifted

The plan, in TMC a year

Where it was to come from: 240 TMC

  • Godavari at Medigadda 195
  • Yellampalli 20
  • Groundwater 25

What it was for: 237 TMC

  • Irrigation 169
  • Hyderabad's drinking water 30
  • Industry 16
  • Evaporation 12
  • Villages along the route 10

As planned, from the CAG audit. CAG, Performance Audit on Kaleshwaram Project, Report No. 1 of 2024 (Government of Telangana)

Water lifted at Medigadda, in TMC

Water lifted at Medigadda, as given by Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy in June 2025; he said about 63 TMC of it later flowed to the sea in floods. Former minister T. Harish Rao cites higher totals counted at later pump houses. Nothing was lifted at Medigadda in 2026.

Deccan Chronicle: Kaleshwaram row heats up as Uttam, Harish trade charges, 7 June 2025 · The Hans India: Medigadda water row, 26 October 2026

Things worth knowing

  1. The first 48 m, from Medigadda to Yellampalli, needed three barrages and three pump houses. The CAG puts the extra capital cost of drawing water at Medigadda at ₹21,897 crore, and Link I's electricity at ₹8.61 crore for every TMC lifted.

  2. Running every pump at once would draw 203 million units a day, more than the whole state's average daily use in 2021-22 (196 million units), according to the CAG.

  3. At full use the electricity bill would be about ₹10,375 crore a year. ₹1,338 crore of that is demand charges, payable whether or not the pumps run (CAG).

  4. A third TMC a day was added from 2016 at ₹28,151 crore, enough to lift up to 270 TMC in 90 days against the 195 TMC cleared. The CAG called it unwarranted; the government says it is needed to catch the short flood season.

  5. The three barrages together hold 35.87 TMC; Mallanna Sagar alone holds 50 TMC.

  6. Medigadda is the only barrage below the Pranahita confluence at Kaleshwaram. The water it lifts is mostly the Pranahita's, which joins the Godavari about 20 km upstream.

Figures from the CAG audit unless stated. CAG, Performance Audit on Kaleshwaram Project, Report No. 1 of 2024 (Government of Telangana)

Where things stand (27 October 2026)

The history, the 2023 damage, the inquiries and what each party says: Kaleshwaram and Medigadda: a fact-based survey · Blog

Sources

Where sources disagree, the CAG figure is used and the other is noted on the structure. Telugu text on this page is a machine-assisted translation awaiting review.

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