Babhli dam won’t displace people

Notwithstanding the political storm brewing between Maharashtra and Andhra Pradesh over the disputed Babhli barrage on the river Majra in Nanded, the Rs220 crore project is one of the 11 barrages the Maharashtra government’s irrigation department is building across the river at different locations, in what is seen as a new approach to river water conservation.

The Babhli project, 83km from Nanded, is 7km upstream from the point where Godavari, Majra and a small local stream meet. The project will benefit 58 villages with drinking water and irrigate 8,000 hectare of land, according to official estimates. So far, the project has incurred an expenditure of Rs165 crore.

While the barrage will help store 2.74 TMC water, creating a 58km backwater effect within the river stream, the 11 other such from upstream Majra down to the Andhra Pradesh border are the country’s first such experiment in river water conservation.

Irrigation officials say the project needs no land acquisition. Which means it does not cause any physical displacement of people.
Together, the 11 barrages, officials say, would help store 20 TMC water within the stream, without obstructing the natural river flow.
The Andhra Pradesh government says Babhli Barrage falls in the backwaters of the Pochampad dam on Godavari, which is a violation to the 1975 Godavari water sharing agreement.

Maharashtra refutes the claim, saying the barrage is 7km from the border within the state, and is in lieu of the states’ water sharing agreement.

The Supreme Court, which is hearing the matter about water sharing of Godavari water, allowed Maharashtra to go ahead with the construction of barrages, but has asked it not to store water by closing the barrage gates until the final orders are issued.

Mooted in 2006-07 when Vilasrao Deshmukh was the chief minister, the first barrage built on Majra was Bhusni in his home district of Latur. Its success has led to the replication of the idea elsewhere in the state.

“When we build a dam, we impound water, which submerges large areas and creates obstruction to river flow,” said an irrigation officer. “In this approach, we only store post-monsoon regenerated water within the stream, without obstructing the river’s natural flow,” he said.

This approach signals a major departure from the traditional dam. It is more economical, and faster in implementation. “Huge barrages, on the lines of KT-weirs, are built across the river stream,” explained an irrigation officer. “These barrages have big gates to regulate flood water during monsoon.” The tall gates are lifted during monsoon for the flood waters to flow downstream and are closed post-monsoon to store the regenerated water within the stream. It helps the villages along the banks to lift water for post-monsoon irrigation. First reports indicate recharging of ground water table as well in the vicinity.

Now, the state irrigation department is building similar barrages on several other big perennial rivers such as Tapi, Katepurna, and Godavari to name a few, creating water storages in the streams.