The objective of Mission Kakatiya is to enhance the development of agriculture based income for small and marginal farmers, by accelerating the development of minor irrigation infrastructure, strengthening community based irrigation management and adopting a comprehensive programme for restoration of tanks.
Tanks have been the life line of Telangana owing to the state’s geographical positioning. The people of the state are highly dependent on the tanks which are spread across all the 10 districts. The topography and rainfall pattern in Telangana have made tank irrigation an ideal type of irrigation by storing and regulating water flow for agricultural use.
Construction of tanks in Telangana has been an age old activity since pre Satavahana era. During the Kakatiya era, the construction of tanks was carried out with utmost technical expertise. Tanks such as Ramappa, Pakhala, Laknavaram, Ghanapuram, Bayyaram which were built by Kakatiyas resemble seas and they greatly helped agriculture and overall development and prosperity of the Kakatiya kingdom.
This vision and legacy of Kakatiyas were carried forward by Qutubshahis and Asafjahis who ruled this region for centuries. Hundreds of big and small tanks were built in Telangana region during their rule. Government desires to uphold the vision of Kakatiyas which envisages revival and restoration of Minor Irrigation Sources in Telangana State.
The Government has prioritized to take the restoration of minor irrigation tanks to restore them to store their original capacity and to effectively utilize 255 TMC of water allocated for Minor irrigation sector under Godavari & Krishna River basins.
The minimum ayacut that can be irrigated with the above allocated water is about 20 lakh acres. But as per the statistics the ayacut now being irrigated is only about 9 to 10 lakh acres under Minor Irrigation tanks. Thus, there is a gap ayacut of about 10 lakh acres.
The reasons for this gap ayacut under Minor Irrigation tanks are due to.
- Loss of water storage capacity of tanks due to accumulation of silt in tank beds over a long period.
- Due to dilapidated sluices, weirs and weak bunds
- Due to defunct of feeder channels.
- Due to dilapidated condition of Irrigation canals.
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