The new bridge coming up in Eturunagaram mandal connecting Warangal and Khammam districts - a boon to the district.

Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao

ETURUNAGARAM (WARANGAL DT.): In what could be described as a feather in the cap of road network of the country and a boon to Telangana state, a 1.8 kilometre is coming up on the river Godavari in this agency mandal.

Once complete, it is expected to open up the hitherto remote and unconnected tribal hamlets all across the district and beyond into Khammam district and neighbouring Chattisgarh state.

The bridge which is expected to be complete in four months connects Mullakatta in Eturunagaram mandal in Warangal district and Poosuru in Khammam district and then the Chattisgarh. It is said the bridge would reduce the distance between Hyderabad to Kolkata by 300 kilometres.

Speaking to The Hindu, district collector Vakati Karuna said it would result in enormous development of Warangal district in the days to come. It would facilitate more vehicular movement via the district on national road network.

The bridge was contemplated long ago to bring in development to agency mandals and to contain naxal problem in Telangana and Chattisgarh districts. The then collector K Prabhakar Reddy proposed the bridge at Tupakulagudem where the river Godavari was very narrow and construction of bridge could be completed in record time. However, during chief ministership of Y S Rajasekhar Reddy the plan was altered and proposed at the present site. The construct began in February 2012 and was expected to be complete by February 2015.

“With bridge at Tupukulagudem, the Warangal district would get 50 km NH 202 which meant most as it connects large number of tribal habitations,” Mr Prabhakar Reddy told The Hindu.

Collector Ms Karuna said it was almost complete and would soon be opened for vehicular movement.

The bridge has 41 piers and is coming up at a height of 17.5 metre to withstand flooding. The bridge could be reached from Akulavari Ghanpuram village which is near Eturunagaram bustand after travelling 17 kilometres.

ends/ 

Ramappa Lake - the only one of its kind

Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao

WARANGAL: On a cloudy day, slightly bent over and resting your arms on the railings on historic Ramappa lake tank bund, you look into the enormous waters that seem to extending to horizon. As the cool breeze wafts by, you muse over the placid waters richly pregnant with prosperity that it might give to the humble farmers.

The mist covered range of hillocks and pristine environs certainly wonders the visitors. But, there are more aspects here awe inspiring. The simpletons of Kakatiya kingdom still remain matchless in their acumen even in modern day.

Even in the drought situation, this centuries old tank still caters to the farmers thus sustaining the life around in villages.

“The SRSP which was built in 1970s had accumulated silt and lost 30 per cent of its storage capacity, but the historic Ramappa Lake has not lost its efficacy. It is because of engineering techniques the Kakatiyas adopted,” explains geo-engineering expert and former academic of NIT, Prof M Panduranga Rao.

Mr Rao who presented a paper at the national seminar three decades ago studied deep into the engineering marvels of Kakatiyas.

According to him, the Kakatiyas adopted 75 per cent of dependability and planned the reservoirs to absorb entire flood waters that may come once in four or five years. With that reason, they always built huge tanks more than twice the yield of water in the area around.

The Ramappa lake could store 2,913 mcft while the yield of the basin is only 1120 mcft. So also all other lakes – Laknavaram and Pakhal are twice the capacity of the yield. Even in drought year, the excess flood water available in tank in lean period can take care of requirement of farmers.

Kakatiyas identified ideal topo-graphical saddle for the construction of main bund of tanks. They chose minimum gap between two hillocks to close it by a dam and store huge water.

Mr Rao explains that: “Kakatiyas located sluices at such convenient points which would drain the accumulated silt along with the water. Hence, those old tanks are still intact”.

End/