Congress govt in Telangana fails to sustain momentum in irrigation sector

Two years into the Congress rule, Telangana’s irrigation sector has seen slow progress with no major new project launches. While the government revived select schemes and targeted partially completed works, funding gaps and setbacks such as the SLBC tunnel collapse have hindered advancement.

Hyderabad: Two years into the Congress government, Telangana’s irrigation sector presents a report card that is far from impressive. The Revanth Reddy government’s record is marked by a slow pace of work on projects intended to create new irrigation potential.

It has no major new projects launched to its credit so far. The Congress government has so far raised average actual expenditure to nearly Rs.17,000 crore per year, with a cumulative allocation of Rs.45,674 crore across 2024–25 (Rs.22,301 crore) and 2025–26 (Rs.23,373 crore). However, the focus has shifted.

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The previous BRS government launched landmark projects and created over 70 lakh acres of new ayacut (irrigated area). The Congress government has moved to revive the Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi and the Sitarama Lift Irrigation (SLBC) tunnel project. While it remains uncertain on whether to link the Pranahita-Chevella scheme to the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) by drawing water to the Sundilla barrage, the move to resume work on the SLBC tunnel project hit a major roadblock with the tunnel collapse tragedy on February 22, 2025.

The Congress government targeted projects that were 50–75 percent complete, required minimal additional spending and had high ayacut potential, aiming to create 1–2 lakh acres of new irrigation potential by mid-2026. In July 2024, the government identified six low-cost projects for completion by March 2025. But due to funding gaps, no significant advancement has been made so far even there. Projects such as the Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme, Devadula Phase III, Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme and the Chanaka-Korata Barrage were put on the priority list, but the initiative has seen no progress so far.