Abstract

The soil survey of the Bhairavanitippa Project area was undertaken late in 1950 in order to find out the suitability of the soils and water for irrigation. The command area is situated in the Ceded districts of Bellary and Anantapur, far in the interior of the Deccan Peninsula without any high mountains nearby. So the area enjoys a very limited rainfall (about 20 inches per annum) and is subject to famine conditions very frequently. The Tungabadra project which is to be the salvation of the Ceded districts will not confer any benefit on this tract.. The only source of irrigation in the region is the river Hagari. This is not a perennial stream and is in floods for only a few days in the year. Still, to improve the tract and to prevent famine conditions, it is proposed to harness the waters of Hagari for irrigation by throwing a dam across it just above the Bhairavanitippa village of Kalyandrug taluk of Anantapur district. The reservoir will have a storage capacity of 2,000 million c. ft. (effective capacity 1500 million c. ft.) and two irrigation channels are proposed to be taken from the reservoir one on either side of the river to irrigate a total area of about 8,000 acres.

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