BRS challenges Congress to operate Kannepalli pumps or hand project to KCR

The BRS intensified its attack on the Congress government over the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, demanding the immediate operation of the Kannepalli pump house. Party leaders accused the government of neglecting farmers and threatened fresh protests if irrigation pumping was not resumed.

Hyderabad: The BRS on Monday intensified its offensive against the Congress government over the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS), demanding the immediate operation of the Kannepalli pump house. Throwing an open challenge to the government, Jagadish Reddy said if the Congress lacked the confidence to operate the pumps, it should hand over the project to former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for a week.

“The BRS would fill the reservoirs within seven days. We accept full responsibility and will even dissolve the party altogether in case of any untoward incident, as feared by Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy,” he asserted, accepting the challenge.

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Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan here, former Minister and Suryapet MLA G Jagadish Reddy said operating the Kannepalli pumps would enable the storage of up to 150 TMCft of Godavari River water. He accused the ruling Congress of deliberately refusing to lift irrigation water for the farmers of Telangana despite looming drought conditions. He reminded that despite its allegations, the Congress had failed to prove irregularities in the construction of the Kaleshwaram project till date.

Rejecting the government’s reliance on the recommendations of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA), the senior BRS leader said the issue was being used as a pretext to avoid operating the project. He also accused the government of avoiding water lifting to save on power costs and evade procurement and bonus payments to farmers.

Former Minister and Karimnagar MLA Gangula Kamalakar questioned why water was not being lifted from Kannepalli and Yellampalli despite the absence of any NDSA restrictions on storing water in the Annaram and Sundilla barrages. He warned that the BRS would launch another “Chalo Kannepalli, Chalo Yellampalli” agitation if the government failed to act.

Former MP B Vinod Kumar rubbished Uttam Kumar Reddy’s statements, calling them misleading. Referring to the Minister’s concerns over flood risks, he said the Godavari River witnessed an inflow of 29 lakh cusecs in 2021 without any adverse impact on Bhadrachalam. He alleged that the barrages were being kept empty to facilitate large-scale sand mining and urged the government to partially fill the Annaram and Sundilla barrages and begin lifting water immediately.

“Neither the Chief Minister nor the Ministers are fully aware of the size of the Kaleshwaram project and its usefulness. Without knowing it fully, they are using around 95 per cent of the project at different levels,” he asserted.

The BRS leader maintained that the State should prioritise irrigation in view of the El Nino threat and urged Ministers from the erstwhile Karimnagar, Warangal and Nalgonda districts to persuade the Chief Minister to operationalise the Kannepalli pumps without further delay. They also questioned the silence of the 16 MPs from the Congress and the BJP from Telangana on the crisis.