148 or 152 metres? Revanth Reddy takes the Tummidihatti file to Fadnavis in Mumbai

A barrage across the Pranahita at Tummidihatti is not a new idea. What has never been settled, in ten years, is how high it should stand. Chief Minister Revanth Reddy left for Mumbai on the evening of 25 October in search of that answer. He meets Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis at 11 am on Monday, 26 October, at the Sahyadri Guest House, with Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy and senior irrigation officials alongside him.

The dispute is four metres wide. At an Inter-State Board meeting on 23 August 2016, Maharashtra agreed to a barrage at 148 metres and promised to help with clearances. Telangana’s engineers have since concluded that 148 metres will not divert enough water by gravity to meet north Telangana’s needs. At 150 to 152 metres, they argue, fewer lifts are needed and the power bill falls. Seen from Maharashtra, every extra metre puts more villages under water.

The question has already been through one round of talks between officials in Delhi. Maharashtra’s position there was plain: no objection if the 148 metres agreed in 2016 is retained, and a response on anything higher only after it has read Telangana’s studies. That is why, at a review on 23 October, the Chief Minister asked for technical reports on water availability, barrage height and the land that would be submerged in Maharashtra. That file is what he carries to Mumbai.

Why it matters

Tummidihatti was once the first step of the Pranahita-Chevella scheme, which stalled on Maharashtra’s submergence objections. The previous government turned to Kaleshwaram instead, and the Medigadda barrage followed. Returning to Tummidihatti means rethinking north Telangana’s irrigation plan from the start.

Our view: one meeting will not settle a four-metre argument. Fadnavis’s willingness to talk is the only positive signal so far. If Monday ends with a joint technical committee and a deadline, that is progress. If it ends with a statement that the talks were fruitful, this file will sit for another ten years.