BRS warns of protest if Ministers visit Karimnagar without releasing irrigation water

Former MLA Sunke Ravishankar warned of protests during Ministers’ visits in Karimnagar, alleging the Congress government ignored farmers’ demand for irrigation water. He urged the government to release water to save withering paddy crops and fill key reservoirs

Karimnagar: BRS leader and former Choppadandi MLA Sunke Ravishankar on Saturday warned that Ministers’ tour programmes in the district would be obstructed if the government continued to ignore farmers’ demand for irrigation water.

Addressing the media, Ravishankar questioned how Ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Thummala Nageshwar Rao could tour Karimnagar while failing to ensure water supply to agricultural fields.

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He said BRS activists, along with distressed farmers, would block the Ministers’ visits unless immediate steps were taken to release water to the fields.

“Farmers are suffering as the paddy crop is withering due to lack of irrigation. Lakhs of cusecs of Godavari water are flowing into the sea unused, while the Congress government remains blind to farmers’ plight,” he said.

Accusing the Congress government of turning north Telangana into a “desert”, Ravishankar said farmers were forced to irrigate their fields using pots and water tankers due to the severe shortage.

He noted that water levels in the Sri Ram Sagar Project (SRSP), Mid Manair and Lower Manair Dam (LMD) had already declined. He demanded that the government immediately fill the Narayanpur, MMD and LMD reservoirs and prioritise water supply for agriculture.