Alimineti Project Fourth Pump Commissioned

The fourth pump of the Alimineti Madhava Reddy Project (AMRP) lift scheme at Puttamgandi in Nalgoda district was formally commissioned today. The project was formulated to provide irrigation facilities for about 2.7 lakh acres of land, utilising 26.22 TMC feet of water, and drinking water supply for over 600 fluoride-affected villages in Nalgonda district.

A component of the project was entrusted to APGenco. It envisages the construction of 6 metre diameter and 1.5-km-long tunnel to lead water from the foreshore of Nagarjunasagar reservoir to the pump house, installation of 4 numbers of pumps with a capacity of 25,000 Hp (18 MW), to lift 600 cusecs of water by each pump by about 100 metres head and stringing of 24 km-long 220 KV line from Chalakurthy to Puttamgandi to provide electricity for the pumps.

Though the works entrusted to APGenco were estimated to cost around Rs 430 crore in 1998-99, it brought the cost to Rs 269 crore with suitable changes in the design and layout, said J Parthasarathy, the CMD of APGenco.

The project work was grounded in June 1998 and the first pump was commissioned in August 2001. The second and third pumps were commissioned in September and December 2002 respectively. With the commissioning of fourth pump, the works by Genco almost come to an end. Energy requirement for lifting the 26.22 TMC ft of water when the scheme is completed in another four years would be around 150 MUs per annum.