Congress enforced drought on farmers by denying to lift water, supply power: Harish

Former minister T Harish Rao blamed the Congress government for drought and power shortages, alleging inadequate irrigation water and coal reserves were affecting farmers in Medak’s Narsapur mandal

Medak: Former Minister T. Harish Rao blamed the Congress government for the prevailing drought conditions. Examining the dried-up paddy crops at Kagaz Maddur village in Narsapur mandal on Monday, Harish Rao said the Congress government had failed to lift irrigation water from the Godavari besides failing to store coal reserves.

The former minister said Transco could not even supply six hours of power to the agriculture sector due to a lack of coal reserves. He said the power plants in Kothagudem, Bhadradri and Yadadri had become inoperative due to a lack of coal reserves.

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Stating that he had exposed the alleged disappearance of 40 lakh tonnes of coal from Singareni Collieries, he said he was taken into custody when he tried to visit Singareni to expose the truth.

Elaborating on what he described as the injustice done to farmers in the Krishna basin, Rao said the government had failed to operate pumps at the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Project and Sammakka Sarakka due to a lack of power.

The former minister interacted with a woman farmer, Nagamani, whose three-acre crop had dried up at Kagaz Maddur. The woman farmer said she had spent over Rs 60,000 on the three acres but had no hope of recovering her investment as the crop had started withering due to a lack of rain.

Several Congress and BJP leaders joined the BRS in the presence of Harish Rao and Narsapur MLA V. Sunitha Lakshma Reddy. EOM