Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister to release HNSS waters at Kuppam on August 30

Chief Minister N. Chandrababu Naidu will formally release the waters of the Handri Neeva Sujala Sravanthi (HNSS) project at the Paramasamudram tank near Kuppam on Saturday. Elaborate arrangements have been made for the traditional Jala Harathi ritual to mark the occasion, described as a historic milestone for the parched Rayalaseema region.

Officials from the HNSS project and the Kuppam Area Development Authority (KADA) said the initiative is a lifeline for an area long plagued by recurring droughts, dry spells, and drinking water scarcity. The HNSS, a mega ₹4,000-crore lift-irrigation project, is designed to draw Krishna floodwaters from the Srisailam reservoir near Malyala in Kurnool district. During the 120 flood days, it will tap up to 40 tmcft of water and channel it through a 554-km main canal with 12 major lifts.

Once fully operational, the project will irrigate about 6.03 lakh acres and provide 4 tmcft of drinking water to nearly 33 lakh people in the Rayalaseema districts. To meet this demand, eight reservoirs with a cumulative storage of 9.05 tmcft have been planned, powered by 672 MW of pumping capacity.

The project is being implemented in two phases. Phase I, up to the Jeedipalle reservoir, covers 1.98 lakh acres with 14 tmcft. Phase II, extending to the Adavipalle reservoir, will irrigate 4.04 lakh acres with 26 tmcft. Several branch canals — at Madakasira in Sri Sathya Sai district, Punganur in Chittoor, and Tamballapalle in Annamayya district — will supply water to drought-hit mandals. The Kuppam branch canal, originating from the Punganur main canal, holds particular significance for the tail-end belt of Chittoor district. It will stabilise 6,300 acres through 110 minor irrigation tanks while also providing drinking water to more than five lakh people across eight mandals in the Palamaner and Kuppam Assembly constituencies. The canal terminates at the Paramasamudram tank, the venue of Saturday’s launch.