The Krishna River in the Deccan plateau is the third-longest river in India, after the Ganga and Godavari. It is also the fourth-largest in terms of water inflows and river basin area in India, after the Ganges, Indus and Godavari. The river, also called Krishnaveni, is 1,400 kilometres (870 mi) long and its length in Maharashtra is 282 kilometres. It is a major source of irrigation in the Indian states of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh.
The Dowleswaram Barrage was an irrigation structure originally built in 1852 on the lower stretch of the Godavari River before it empties into the Bay of Bengal. It was rebuilt in 1970 when it was officially renamed as Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage or Godavari Barrage.
Nagarjuna Sagar Dam is a masonry dam across the Krishna River at Nagarjuna Sagar which straddles the border between Palnadu district in Andhra Pradesh and Nalgonda district in Telangana. The dam provides irrigation water to the districts of Krishna, Guntur, Palnadu, Prakasam and parts of West Godavari districts of Andhra Pradesh and also Nalgonda, Suryapet, Khammam, Bhadradri Kothagudem districts of Telangana. It is also a source of electricity generation for the national grid.
The Srisailam Dam is constructed across the Krishna River in Nandyal district, Andhra Pradesh and Nagarkurnool district, Telangana near Srisailam temple town and is the 2nd largest capacity working hydroelectric station in India.
Budameru is a rivulet in NTR district which originates in the hills surrounding Mylavaram and empties itself into Kolleru Lake. Budameru is also known as The Sorrow of Vijayawada. In order to control the floods, the rivulet was controlled with the Velagaleru Regulator at Velagaleru village and a diversion channel named, Budameru Diversion Channel (BDC) was constructed from Velagaleru to join Krishna River upstream of Prakasam Barrage.
The Polavaram Project is an under construction multi-purpose irrigation project on the Godavari River in the Eluru District and East Godavari District in Andhra Pradesh. The project has been accorded National project status by the Central Government of India. Its reservoir back water spreads up to the Dummugudem Anicut and approx 115 km on Sabari River side. Thus back water spreads into parts of Chhattisgarh and Odisha States. It gives major boost to tourism sector in Godavari Districts as the reservoir covers the famous Papikonda National Park, Polavaram hydro electric project (HEP) and National Waterway 4 are under construction on left side of the river. It is located 40 km to the upstream of Sir Arthur Cotton Barrage in Rajamahendravaram City and 25 km from Rajahmundry Airport.
The Pranahita Chevella Lift Irrigation Project is a lift irrigation project to harness the water of Pranahita tributary of Godavari River for use in the Telangana state of India. The river water diversion barrage across the Pranahita River is located at Thammidihatti village in Komaram Bheem district of Telangana. This lift canal is an inter river basin transfer link by feeding Godavari River water to Krishna River basin. The chief ministers of Telangana and Maharashtra states reached an agreement in 2016 to limit the full reservoir level (FRL) of the barrage at 148 m msl with 1.85 tmcft storage capacity. In the year 2016, this project is divided into two parts. The scheme with diversion canal from the Thammmidihatti barrage to connect to existing Yellampalli reservoir across the Godavari River is presently called Pranahita barrage lift irrigation project. This scheme is confined to providing irrigation facility to nearly 2,00,000 acres in Adilabad district using 44 tmcft water.
The Pulichintala Project is a multi-purpose water management project for irrigation, hydropower generation, and flood control in the state of Andhra Pradesh, India, named after the prominent civil engineer, Kanuri Lakshmana Rao. It is a crucial irrigation facility for farmers in four coastal districts: West Godavari, Krishna, Guntur, Palanadu, and Prakasam, covering over 13 lakh acres. It has 24 gates and a balancing reservoir with a capacity of 46 Tmcft at 175 feet (53 m) MSL full reservoir level (FRL).
Rajiv Dummugudem Lift Irrigation Scheme is a lift irrigation scheme under execution which are located near Dummugudem, Khammam district in Telangana, India. There are three lift irrigation schemes by names Rajiv Dummugudem lift irrigation scheme, Indirasagar Rudrammakota Dummugudem lift irrigation scheme and Dummugudem to Sagar tail pond canal project. Rajiv Dummugudem lift irrigation scheme starting at 17°54′05″N80°52′45″E is planned to supply irrigation water for 200,000 acres in Khammam and Warangal districts drawing Godavari River water from the Dummugudem pond. Indira Dummugudem lift irrigation scheme starting at 17°33′49″N81°14′49″E is planned to supply irrigation water for 200,000 acres in Khammam, Krishna and West Godavari districts drawing Godavari River water from the back waters of Polavaram reservoir.
Icchampally Project was a multi-purpose project proposed in 2008, with hydro electricity generation, irrigation, flood control, etc. benefits on the River Godavari in India. This project is proposed as joint project of Telangana, Maharashtra and Chhattisgarh states.
"Rajaolibanda Diversion Scheme" or "RDS" is an irrigation project located across River Tungabhadra in Jogulamba Gadwal district of Telangana, Kurnool district of Andhra pradesh and Raichur district of Karnataka. It is an inter-state barrage on the Tungabhadra river to supply water to Karnataka, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh states. The full reservoir level of this project is 332.32 m MSL.
The Tungabhadra Dam, also known as Pampa Sagar, is a water reservoir constructed across the Tungabhadra River in the Hosapete-Koppal confluence in Karnataka, India. It is a multipurpose dam serving irrigation, electricity generation, flood control, etc. for the state. It is India's largest stone masonry dam and one of the only two non-cement dams in the country, the other being the Mullaperiyar Dam in Kerala. The dam is built of surki mortar, a combination of mud and limestone, commonly used at the time of its construction.
Velugodu Reservoir is a balancing reservoir and located across the Galeru river, a tributary of Kundu River in Penner River basin, at Velugodu town in Nandyal district of Andhra Pradesh. This reservoir is part of Telugu Ganga project and mainly fed by gravity canal from back waters of Srisailam Dam through Pothireddypadu head / flow regulator located across the feeder canal. Velugodu Reservoir has gross storage capacity of 16.95Tmcft at 265 m MSL full reservoir level.
Nagarjuna Sagar tail pond is a multipurpose reservoir located 21 km downstream from the Nagarjuna Sagar Dam across the Krishna River near Satrasala in Nalgonda district, India. Its gross water storage capacity is 6 Tmcft. The reservoir water spread area extends up to the toe of the Nagarjuna Sagar dam. The project was completed by July 2014.
The Veligonda Project is an irrigation project located in Markapur, Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh, India. When completed, the project will provide irrigational facilities to 447,000 acres and drinking water to 1.5 million people in 30 Mandals of fluoride and drought affected areas in Prakasam district, Nellore district and Kadapa district by diverting 43.5 TMC of floodwater from the Krishna River from foreshore of Srisailam Reservoir near Kollamvagu and proposed to store in Nallamalasagar Reservoir. The water for the project is drawn through two 18.8 km long tunnels across Nallamala hills. The project has been renamed to the "Poola Subbaiah Irrigation Project". It displaces around 20,946 families. The oustees have protested for enhanced compensation over the years and many have not received the compensation promised to them.
Ryves Canal is a canal that originates from the Krishna River and flows through the city of Vijayawada in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh. Under the Krishna Eastern canal system, there are three gravity canals, namely the Eluru canal, Ryves canal and Bandar (Machilipatnam) canal were dug during British time, mainly for irrigation and navigation purposes. The Ryves canal has a length of 57.70 km and an anicut of 1,75,000 acres with a designed discharge of 4250 cusecs.
Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Project is a river interlinking project which connects Godavari River to Krishna River. This project has thereby become the first of such irrigation type projects in the country to be completed in time without any budget enhancements. It also holds a record in Limca Book of Records. The project was Inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Andhra Pradesh Nara Chandrababu Naidu in March 2016 while the project was completed in one year record of time.
Vykuntapuram Barrage is an Indian barrage and water storage project. It is under construction on Krishna River 23 kilometers upstream of existing Prakasam Barrage with FRL 25M. It is designed to store 10 TMC of flood water coming from the Vyra and Munneru rivers. The backwater of this dam will extend beyond Pokkunuru to the toe of Pulichintala dam. Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Nara chandrababu Naidu laid the foundation stone for this project on 13 February 2019.
Jogulamba Barrage is a proposed barrage across Krishna River with full pond level (FPL) 274m. It would be located at Veltoor village, Peddamandadi mandal, Wanaparthy district, Telangana, India. This barrage is proposed to divert 3 TMC of water via lift to Yedula Reservoir being built as part of Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme. This would also provide water for Dindi Lift Irrigation Project and Mahatma Gandhi Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme.
In early September 2024, Vijayawada, a city in Andhra Pradesh, India, experienced severe flooding triggered by exceptionally heavy rainfall that began on August 31, 2024. The floods resulted in at least 35 deaths in NTR district and significantly impacted approximately 270,000 people in Vijayawada alone. The disaster was characterized by over 29 cm of rainfall in a single day, which overwhelmed the Krishna River and Budameru Rivulet. The flooding caused extensive damage to infrastructure, homes, and agricultural land. The extreme rainfall caused catastrophic flooding, severely damaging infrastructure, homes, and agricultural land. The flooding exposed critical issues with the city's flood management infrastructure and urban planning, highlighting the urgent need for improved measures to handle such extreme weather events.
Night view of Prakasam Barrage
Lake side view of Prakasam Barrage
Prakasam barrage from Krishnaveni idol
