Latest News On Theegala Cheruvu

Theegala Cheruvu, a village tank, spread a little over 103 acres in the former major Gram Panchayat of Jajireddygudem, which the late R Vidyasagar Rao, the revered and respected irrigation advisor to Telangana State Government hoped would transform the lives of Jajireddygudem residents, is now practically out of bounds for them. The strange situation has arisen following the tank being made part of the neighbouring Arvapally gram panchayat in the recent up-gradation of some villages as gram panchayats.

With their village tank now no longer ‘theirs’, residents of Jajireddygudem have been complaining that they are not being given access to the tank by Arvapally residents. The Theegala Cheruvu, spread in 103.14 acres in Survey No. 277 and located half km distance to the village, was the only irrigation water source for Jajireddygudem farmers. The village tank has an ayacut of 200 acres in the village. The tank was restored under Mission Kakatiya, at a cost of Rs 58 lakh and as part of this, the feeder channels were also restored. As per plans, the tank is to be filled with water from SRSP canal.

Speaking to Telangana Today, Rentala Shanthaiah (70) a resident of Jajireddygudem said the villagers had deep and sentimental connections with the tank developed over generations. “If Vidyasagar Rao was alive, we might have not lost the village tank to another newly formed gram panchayat,” he said.He alleged that unscientific methods followed by officials in gram panchayat reorganisation were also a reason for it. After Theegala Ccheruvu was included in the Arvepally village limits, some old graves next to the tank bed were also removed by some unidentified persons about a month ago, he said.

A farmer, Chennaboina Suven, who owns five acres of agricultural land irrigated with water from the tank, said that some people from Arvepally strongly objected when farmers from his village tried to open the conduit to release water to the fields in December resulting in drying up of the crops. Shepherds from Jaijireddygudem were also not being allowed to graze their sheep near Theegala Cheruvu by a group of people from the neighbouring village, he added.

He urged the government to intervene and ensure that people from his village do not become victims of the current situation and fulfil the dream of Vidyasagar Rao who hoped that a lift irrigation project from the nearby Musi river would be built to fill the tank. Some villagers said when they sought information under the Right to Information Act on how the tank was transferred to the other village, the local officials “washed their hands off by furnishing us a map of the village.”

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