Beating its Records: MEIL Completes Critical Works of Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme

HYDERABAD, May 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- The Markook pump house, the last and vital one, is inaugurated by Telangana Chief Minister Sri K. Chandrashekhar Rao today, thus releasing the water to Kondapochammasagar; yet another milestone in the multi-stage Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme(KLIS). After performing the 'Chandi Yagam' by Sri China Jeeyar Swamy, he also inaugurated the pump house and reservoir. MEIL has built this prestigious reservoir and pump house, equipping it with six machines of 27 MWs capacity each and an operational pumping capacity of 3,763 MWs.

Infra giant, Megha Engineering Infrastructure Limited (MEIL) enhanced its reputation by completing all the critical works of Kaleshwaram Project, a multi-purpose lift irrigation project taken up by Telangana Government in record time. The project intends to mould Telangana into a 'Food Bowl' using the water resources of the Godavari river. By completing the majority of the pumping stations for this ambitious project in a record time of 4 years, MEIL proved its mettle in terms of its engineering and management capacities.

A total of 22 pumping stations with 96 machines having a total capacity of 4,680 MWs was constructed for this mega project; a first-of-its-kind in the world. Out of the total, MEIL built 15 pumping stations with 89 machines having a capacity of 3,840 MWs. One of the  most notable achievements of the project is that all of these pumping houses have been operationalised and pumping water. The determination of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandra Shekhar Rao and his regular and intense monitoring along with the irrigation department officials, coupled with the critical support extended by highly-reputed electro-mechanical engineering companies like BHEL, Aandriz, Zylum ABB, Crompton Greeves, VEGG, etc. have contributed immensely in achieving this record-breaking feat. Construction work for this mammoth multi-purpose lift irrigation project was initiated four years back. And within three years, all the pumping stations in Link-1 and Link-2 have been operationalised.

3,763 MWs capacity in record time

Even though the pump house in Package-14 had come into operation recently, the total pumping capacity utilisation has already reached upto 3,763 MWs, signifying a record in the engineering history. It also holds the the distinction of lifting water to a height of 600 feet; also a record in the irrigation sector's history. Given the size and capacity to serve in multiple ways, Kaleshwaram Project has now become the world's largest lift irrigation project. The pace of the project works has put even the engineering experts in surprise. Nowhere in the world has a project with such gigantic proportions been completed in such a short period, especially when the construction of reservoirs and canals itself taking decades.

MEIL completed the construction of 15 pumping stations with a total capacity of 3,840 MWs that could lift 2 TMCs of water per day. While 9 pumping stations with a total capacity of 3,763 MWs already operationalised, four more with a capacity of 35.4 MWs are ready for operation, and two pumping stations with a capacity of 41 MWs are still in the completion stage.  

Most of these pumping stations with the highest capacities are constructed in underground. Gayathri (Package-8), Annapurna (Package-10), Ranganayakasagar Project (Package-11), and Mallannasagar (Package-12) are some of the big underground pump houses constructed for this project. The surge pool and additional surge pools of the Gayathri pump house are the biggest surge pools in the world. For this pump house with an area of 84753.2 sq.fts, nearly 2.3 Cubic meters of soil excavated below the ground.  

Link-1 and Link-2 pump houses are the most critical components of this project. As part of Link-1, three pump houses, Lakshmi (Medigadda), Saraswathi (Annaram), and Parvathi (Sundilla) have been constructed. These three pump houses with 28 machines are having a total capacity of 1120 MegaWatts, and they help in bringing Pranahitha water into the Godavari, to fill Sripadasagar Yellampalli Reservoir and also reverse the flow of Godavari River from lower part to the upper part.  

An underground wonder : Gayathri pump house 

The Gayathri (Package-8) pump house is the largest underground pump house in the world, constructed 470 feet below the ground with a huge pumping capacity. Considered now as an underground engineering wonder, it has the world's largest surge pool and twin tunnels. The 7 machines, with a total capacity of 139 MWs could lift 2 TMCs of water per day. These machines are designed and developed based on Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD), genuinely reflecting the government's mission of 'Make in India'. The underground surge pool in this pump house is taller than the Eiffel Tower, and each one of them could lift 3,000 cusecs of water to a height of 111 meters. It is being hailed as an engineering marvel created by MEIL, taking support from BHEL.  

"Not only in terms of each machine but even in terms of total capacity, it is the world's largest pump house. One can imagine the size of this pump house constructed 470 feet below the ground with 327 meters of length 25 meters of width, and 65 meters of height. While the Kaleshwaram project requires 4680 MWs of total capacity to lift 2 TMCs of water per day, MEIL itself established 89 machines with a total capacity of 3840 MWs, that indicates the role being played by the company for this prestigious project of Telangana," said B. Srinivas Reddy, Director, MEIL. 

Ranganayakasagar with the second largest capacity:

Ranganayakasagar of Package-11 has four machines, each with a capacity of 134 MW. This pump house with a total pumping capacity of 536 MWs is the second-largest pump house in the world, after the Gayathri pump house. B. Srinivas Reddy said that, "For MEIL, it is an opportunity to take part in this prestigious project of the Telangana Government. We feel it as a lifetime honour for our company to be able to contribute to such a noble mission of fulfilling the age-old dream of Telangana people in terms of utilising Godavari water and bringing hitherto barren lands into irrigation. We also feel proud to complete this project in time, using sophisticated technology by associating with the world's best engineering companies. We could complete this project in shortest time only because of the determination and regular monitoring of Telangana Chief Minister K. Chandra Shekhar Rao as he directly involved and provided guidance to interact with officials on every aspect of the project and encouraged us a lot." 

By establishing such big pump houses with such high capacities, that too for a lift irrigation project, the Irrigation Department of Telangana also created a world record, as there are no such big pump houses anywhere in the world.  

A massive power infrastructure 

MEIL has established a massive power supply systems for the Kaleshwaram project, which is almost equal to one-fourth of the entire power supply system of Telangana state that has a capacity of 15,087 MWs; covering 33 districts. It is nearly similar to the whole power infrastructure of all the seven north-eastern states of India.  

Telangana Government recently decided to further increase the pumping capacity of the Kaleshwaram Project by one more TMC per day. As part of this, a total of 15 new machines, each with a pumping capacity of 40 MWs are being established in Lakshmi, Saraswathi, and Parvathi Pump Houses of Link-1 component. This work of installing an additional 600 MW capacity is also assigned to MEIL, which is being implemented in association with Zylum and Andriz companies. State Government is also in the process of finalising works related to additional TMC water from Mid Maneru to Mallannasagar. 

About MEIL

Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd. (MEIL) established in 1989, is one of the fastest growing infra companies in India. Over the years, MEIL has constructed numerous structures like large civil constructions, oil and gas pipelines, pump houses, large water treatment plants, dams, reservoirs, power transmission lines, power generation units, tunnels - and all of them have an important role to play in improving the quality of life of the common man for many years into the foreseeable future.

For more information, please visit: http://meil.in/  

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MEIL

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