BRS blames pending irrigation projects for Palamuru water crisis

BRS leaders C. Laxma Reddy and Manne Srinivas Reddy inspected withered crops in Ammapur village, Mahabubnagar district, blaming pending irrigation projects and inadequate power supply for farmers’ distress. Laxma Reddy demanded crop-loss compensation and drought-hit status for two mandals

Mahabubnagar: The BRS district unit has blamed the Congress government’s failure to complete pending irrigation projects in the erstwhile Palamuru region for the prevailing water crisis. The farming community is also facing several hardships due to inadequate power supply.

On Sunday, former Minister C. Laxma Reddy and former MP Manne Srinivas Reddy visited Ammapur village in Nawabpet mandal to inspect withered crops.

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A farmer in Ammapur, Balayya, had invested Rs.2 lakh to cultivate eight acres. Of this, crops on four acres have completely withered. He is now worried about whether the remaining four acres will yield any harvest. Former Minister C. Laxma Reddy consoled the farmer.

Crops hade withered across hundreds of acres in the district. Motors and transformers were also burning out. Crops have dried up due to a combination of drought and power cuts, Laxma Reddy said.

He blamed the Congress government for the situation, chagring that its incompetence had led to power cuts and crop damage.

The reservoirs constructed as part of the Palamuru-Rangareddy project have a combined storage capacity of 70 TMC. The BRS government had built these large reservoirs specifically to tackle drought conditions. However, no large reservoirs were constructed under the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme, he said.

The situation had arisen because the Palamuru-Rangareddy project remained incomplete. Had the project work progressed over the past three years, the reservoirs could have been filled up to Karivena, he stressed.

He also praised BRS president K. Chandrashekhar Rao, saying he had governed with foresight and a clear vision.

Laxma Reddy accused the Congress government of trying to evade responsibility by citing El Nino after failing to ensure adequate water and power supply to farmers.

The projects were designed to withstand even three consecutive years of drought, he said. Farmers who had borrowed money for cultivation were now left without financial security. He demanded compensation for crops that had withered.

Adding to farmers’ woes, the Congress government was indulging in politics over the declaration of drought-hit mandals, he alleged.

“In Nawabpet, crops across hundreds of acres have withered, yet the mandal has not been declared drought-affected,” Laxma Reddy pointed out. He demanded that Nawabpet and Midjil mandals be declared drought-affected.