Godavari, Krishna Rivers formally interlinked in Andhra Pradesh

September 17, 2015

Godavari River was formally interlinked with the Krishna River at Ibrahimpatnam near Vijayawada in Andhra Pradesh.
Both rivers were interlinked after Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu inaugurated a pylon at Ibrahimpatnam.
State government has named this historic occasion as ‘Krishna-Godavari Pavitra Sangamam’ meaning holy confluence in Telugu.
Key facts

The interlinking irrigation project located at Pattisam village in West Godavari district will pump Godavari River’s water into a canal 4 km under the Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme. The pumped water will meet Krishna River at Ibrahimpatnam in Vijaywada district through 174 km long link canal.
The stored water by interlinking rivers at Prakasam Barrage in Vijayawada will be diverted to irrigate paddy crop on 7 lakh acres in the Krishna, West and East Godavari districts, which are often called the rice bowl of the country.
It will also be used to bring drought prone area Rayalaseema region (Anantpur, Kurnool and Kadapa districts) under irrigation through Srisailam reservoir as it faces acute shortage of water for irrigation from June to August every year.
It will save around 80 thousand million cubic feet (TMCs) surplus water directly flowing from Godavari River into Bay of Bengal which will be used for irrigation purpose.
The inter-linking of both rivers was brainchild idea of eminent engineer and former Union minister Kanuri Lakshmana Rao (He is considered as father of the Indian Irrigation System).