Geographically, Telangana is in peninsular India consisting of Deccan Plateau in the North-West. The State is drained by two big rivers, namely Krishna & Godavari Rivers . About 43 % area is covered in Krishna basin and about 56% area is covered in Godavari Basin. Telangana has the advantage of having flows from the western Ghats as well as Western Ghats apart from local tributaries. However, most of the flows occur only in 3 to 4 months of South West monsoon i.e., June to September, unlike the Himalayan Rivers of North India, which are snow fed and perennial.
Telangana State is entitled for utilizing 967.94 TMC in Godavari river besides remaining waters. In Krishna river, Telangana is demanding for 50:50 adhoc sharing arrangement for 2023-24 & 2024-25 between Telangana and AP out of water available (includes 811 TMC at 75% dependability and surplus waters). However, Telangana is pleading for 70:30 (TG:AP) out of water up to average flows, at existing KWDT-II.
Telangana has a heritage of Cultivation and Irrigation dating back to several centuries. In the past, ancient Kings and rulers built lakes and Reservoirs by constructing bunds and anicuts across Rivers for creating Irrigation facilities besides providing drinking water for the people. Big lakes like Ramappa, Pakhal, Laknavaram and many other Irrigation works of Kakatiya period have become names to remember and are serving till date. The Mir Alam Tank is the finest example in arched Dam constructed across Musi River. The Ghanpur Anicut across Manjeera with two canals called Fathenahar and Mahabubnahar canals, Pocharam Project, Osmansagar, Himayatsagar, Nizamsagar Project, Manair Project, Dindi Project, Palair Project, Wyra Project and Sarala Sagar Projects are some of the magnificent contributions of the eminent Engineers of Hyderabad State, like Nawab Ali Nawaz Jung Bahadur and others during the Nizam’s rule in Telangana.
The main objective of Irrigation Department in Telangana is to create 127.58 Lakh Acres Irrigation Potential in the state besides providing drinking water in the drought prone areas, upland areas and upkeep of the existing projects to enhance the agriculture productivity with increased water use efficiency.
Total Irrigation Potential created and ayacut stabilized under Major, Medium, Minor and IDC Schemes in Telangana is 73.57 Lakh Acres Stabilized ayacut is 31.50 Lakh Acres.
All the Irrigation projects are classified based on the irrigated ayacut under the projects as below:
Major Irrigation Projects : Ayacut above 25,000 Acres (>10,000 ha.)
Medium Irrigation Projects : Ayacut above 5,000 Acres (>2,000 ha.) upto 25,000 Acres (<10,000 ha.)
Minor Irrigation Projects : Ayacut upto 5,000 Acres (<2,000 ha.)
In addition, the Department is also in charge of Command Area Development works and Flood Control works in the State.
For the early completion of ongoing Projects and to modernize the existing Irrigation Projects in the State, financial assistance is being taken from Rural Infrastructure Development Fund (RIDF), NABARD, GOI and Accelerated Irrigation Benefit Programme (AIBP) assistance besides tying up with consortium of Banks for getting loan in addition to the Normal State Plan, through Special purpose Vehicles i.e.,
- Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Limited (KIPCL).
- Telangana Water Resources Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (TGWRIDCL).
- Manjeera Lift Irrigation Corporation Limited (MLICL).
C. Main Functions of the Department:
- Hydrological assessment of availability of water in the River basins including water allocation to the Irrigation and other purposes.
- Planning & Design of Irrigation Systems.
- Construction of new projects to create Irrigation Potential for economic development of the State.
- Operation & Maintenance of the existing Projects in an efficient manner.
- Stabilization of existing ayacut by rehabilitation of the age-old projects.
- Modernization of age old Major & Medium Irrigation projects.
- Improve water management and Water Use Efficiency by integrated and coordinated efforts by all line departments.
- Preparation and implementation of operation and maintenance plans for existing Irrigation projects.
- Flood management.
- Restoration and maintenance of flood banks.
- Irrigated area assessment and assessment of Water Royalty Charges for industrial and other utilization.
- Presentation of data & analysis on water availability, utilization of Interstate River basins, presenting the information to the respective Tribunals.
- Exploration of new Project commands.
D. Organisation set up of the Department:
Government of Telangana has reorganized the existing setup of the I&CAD Department, vide G.O. Ms. No. 45, I&CAD (SER.II) Department, Dt:28.12.2020 with a view to make it a vibrant organization capable of responding quickly and effectively to the needs of the people. Further, the main aim of the Re-organization is for better and more responsive management of Irrigation Infrastructure in the State. All the Irrigation sources have been brought under one umbrella of Territorial Chief Engineers. The Ayacut for the Territorial Engineers-in-Chiefs/Chief Engineers is kept around 5 Lakh Acres to 7 Lakh Acres for effective management and control.
Government, vide G.O. Ms. No. 45, I&CAD (SER.II) Department, Dt:28.12.2020 and G.O.Ms.No.151, Finance (HRM-I) Department Dt:06.09.2022 accorded permission to recruit 879 regular O&M Skilled staff for critical Operation of Dams, Barrages and Pump Houses in addition to the present staff who are working under Work Charged Establishment.
The Cadre Strength of the department is as follows:
| Sl.No. | Designation | Total Sanction Strength of the Department |
| 1 | Engineers-in-Chief | 6 |
| 2 | Chief Engineers | 22 |
| 3 | Superintending Engineers | 57 |
| 4 | Executive Engineers | 234 |
| 5 | Deputy Executive Engineers | 892 |
| 6 | Asst. Executive Engineers / Asst. Engineers | 2,796 |
| | Engineering Cadre Total | 4,007 |
| 7 | Ministerial Staff and Technical Staff | 6,083 |
| | Sub Total | 10,090 |
| 8 | O&M Skilled Staff | 879 |
| | Grand Total | 10,969 |
Government, vide G.O. Ms No 153 Finance (HRM-I) Dept., Dt 14.09.2022, has accorded sanction for creation of 12 supernumerary posts i.e., 8 posts of Chief Engineers and 4 posts of Superintending Engineer in I&CAD Department.
Government vide G.O.Ms. No.85 Finance (HRM-1) Dept, Dt: 03.08.2023 has created 5073 (3905 Laskars and 1168 Helpers) supernumerary post of Lascars and Helpers in Irrigation & CAD Department on regular pay basis for absorption of Village Revenue Assistants (VRAs), against which 3054 VRAs joined ( 2213 Lascars and 841 Helpers) in the department.
Engineer-in-Chief (General) is the overall in-charge of the monitoring of all the Irrigation Projects in the State, Chairman of different committees, Hydrology and Investigation activities, Inter State issues on Water allocations, Commissioner of Tenders. All correspondence on Technical matters as well as with other States on water related issues, are routed to Government through Engineer-in-Chief (G) office.
Engineer-in-Chief (Administration) is the HOD and in-charge of overall administration of the Department and will look after the Service matters of all employees in the state, besides acting as the Chairman, Board of Chief Engineers (BoCE), Preparation of SOR’s and Contractors registration.
Engineer-in-Chief (O&M) is in-charge of overall Operation and Maintenance of all Irrigation Projects and Lift Irrigation Schemes in the state.
Major, Medium, Minor and IDC Lift Schemes are brought under one umbrella and the Territorial Engineers-in-Chief/Chief Engineers are in-charge of Operation and Maintenance of these Schemes in their respective jurisdiction. The Territorial Engineers-in-Chief/Chief Engineers function independently as the head of the departments for their respective units and budget.
Irrigation & CAD department is strengthened by the Director General, WALAMTARI duly merging the Telangana State Engineering Research Laboratory (TGERL) into WALAMTARI to take up engineering and capacity building activities.
The Central Designs Organization unit was strengthened by bringing all the Designs offices under one roof.
In order to ensure proper inspection, operation, maintenance and surveillance of the Dams in the state, Government vide G.O.Ms.No.21 I&CAD(Estt.) Dept.
Dt:15.06.2022 has constituted a State Committee on Dam Safety (SCDS) and State Dam Safety Organization (SDSO) for Telangana State.
The Quality Control unit was reorganized by bringing all the Quality Control Circles and Divisions under the Administrative control of the Chief Engineer, Quality Control, Telangana and kept under the overall control of ENC (O&M and Q.C) to ensure the quality of work and to prevent sub-standard works and report to ENC (General) on the allegations of any corrupt practices/ irregularities in the execution of the works as and when entrusted.
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