Taking inspiration from the Kakatiya kings, the PRLIS presents a modern engineering feat by converting the hillocks into vast stretch bunds of the project. The bunds stretch to 74.65 kilometres of the project with the least displacement of human habitations and converting nature to human advantage.
Going by the earlier plan of the project, there would be a submersion of 47 villages and 16,342 hamlets displacing 84,400 people. But with the vision of CM KCR, the officials were able to reduce it to a minimum. Now only 2,481 villages are submerged and 11,025 people are affected. They were all taken care of by the government before embarking on the construction of the dream project.
As many as five reservoirs form part of the project that were surrounded by hillocks forming natural bunds. The Kurumurthiraya reservoir is covered with five hillocks all around it presenting scenic beauty. This is the method adopted by the erstwhile Kakatiya rulers when they built huge artificial water bodies. These reservoirs and islands housed by them are expected to boost tourism as people are thronging to enjoy nature here.
Mr KCR had held a series of meetings with the officials seeking to know the extent of fertile lands, hillocks, and habitations and how best the government could go ahead with the project without disturbing the habitations. How best it could utilise the naturally formed hillocks for human advantage? He also named the reservoirs aesthetically much to the satisfaction of the local people by naming the reservoirs Anjanagiri, Venkatadri and Kurumurthiraya – thus evoking spiritual fervour.
By Gollapudi Srinivasa Rao