Irrigation, Groundwater and Water Conservation in Telangana

7.1–7.2 Where irrigation water comes from

• Irrigation is needed because Telangana's monsoon rain is seasonal and variable and its plateau surface sheds water quickly.
• Official statistics group irrigation sources as canals, tanks, tube wells, other wells and other sources.
• Wells and borewells irrigated about three-quarters of net irrigated area in 2013-14.

7.3 and 7.7 Canals, lifts and major projects

• Canals carry river water from a reservoir or barrage to a project's command area.
• On the plateau, lift irrigation pumps water uphill where gravity flow cannot reach the fields.
• Major projects lie in the Godavari and Krishna basins, such as Sriram Sagar and Nagarjuna Sagar.
• A project's planned command is not the same as the area actually irrigated.

7.4 Tanks

• Tanks store local run-off behind earthen bunds, often in chains where one tank's surplus fills the next.
• Tank-irrigated area fell sharply between the 1950s and the 2000s as borewells spread.

7.5–7.6 Groundwater

• Most of the State is hard rock, so groundwater sits mainly in a weathered zone and fractures.
• The 2025 assessment put the State's stage of groundwater extraction at 46.69%, with stress concentrated around Hyderabad and in some western and central districts.

7.8–7.9 Restoring and conserving water

• Mission Kakatiya (guidelines of 13 March 2015) set out to restore the State's minor irrigation tanks.
• Sustainability needs recharge and demand management together, not more structures alone.