Crops drying up due to incomplete Palamuru-Rangareddy project works: BRS

The BRS has accused the Congress government of failing to complete the pending works of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation project, leading to crop losses in parts of the erstwhile Palamuru region.

Hyderabad: The Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) blamed the Congress government for failing to complete the pending works of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation (PRLI) project, charging that crops across several acres in the erstwhile Palamuru region were drying up as a result.

Former Minister C Laxma Reddy inspected withered paddy crops at Tulja Naik Thanda in Midjil mandal on Saturday.

He said standing crops in several parts of the State were withering. Farmers had invested money and worked hard to cultivate their land, but their efforts were going to waste as the crops failed.

Laxma Reddy acknowledged the El Nino effect and drought-like conditions but said crops around Midjil should not have withered because of their proximity to the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation (KLI) canal.

“Had the Palamuru-Rangareddy project been completed, this situation would not have arisen,” Laxma Reddy said. He alleged that the Congress government had kept the project works pending for the past three years.

He said the government could have brought water to the Karivena Reservoir but had failed to do so. Groundwater levels had also fallen sharply, while power-related problems were adding to farmers’ distress.

Low voltage was causing motors and transformers to burn out, further compounding the difficulties faced by farmers. Laxma Reddy said the electricity crisis was widespread across the State and was resulting in crop losses.