Harish Rao accuses Congress of failing Devadula irrigation promises

BRS leader T Harish Rao accused the Congress government of failing to fulfil its promise of supplying irrigation water through the Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme. He demanded immediate operation of all pumps, compensation for farmers and warned of statewide protests if action was delayed.

Hyderabad: BRS deputy floor leader and former Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao went all guns blazing against the Congress government for misleading farmers by promising irrigation water through the Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme, encouraging cultivation and then refusing to supply water. Demanding that all 10 pumps be operated without delay and all 22 balancing reservoirs be filled, he urged the government to honour its assurances and provide irrigation to the ayacut.

He demanded that the government either ensure immediate irrigation or compensate farmers for crop losses while providing input subsidy. He warned that the BRS would launch joint protests with farmers from the erstwhile Warangal, Nalgonda and Karimnagar districts if the government failed to act.

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Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan on Tuesday, Harish Rao said that on July 12, the BRS questioned the government over the delay in operating the Devadula pumps. A day later, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, along with Ministers N Uttam Kumar Reddy and Ponguleti Srinivasa Reddy, visited the project and announced that all 10 pumps would be operated, 38 tmcft of water would be lifted and 22 reservoirs would be filled. Trusting these assurances, farmers transplanted paddy, he said.

“Now the government has backed out of its promise. Water is neither being lifted nor supplied, forcing farmers onto the streets,” he said, referring to protests across Shayampet, Bhimadevarapalli, Elkathurthi and other parts of the erstwhile Warangal district.

Harish Rao questioned why the government was not operating all the pumps of the Devadula project despite sufficient water availability in the Godavari River and adequate storage at the Sammakka Barrage. While the Ministers promised to operate all 10 pumps, only five were operational as of Monday, he said.

He accused the government of creating an artificial drought through administrative failure rather than climatic conditions. “This is not an El Nino drought; it is a Congress-made drought,” he said, stating that although 105 TMCft of Godavari water flowed downstream through the Devadula system, the government lifted only about 1.9 TMCft despite having the capacity to lift nearly 12 TMCft during the period.

The former Irrigation Minister said the BRS government completed the Sammakka Barrage and all three phases of the Devadula scheme to irrigate 3.17 lakh acres. Despite having the infrastructure, pumps and water, the present government had failed to utilise the system, he alleged.

He also pointed to conflicting statements, with the Ministers assuring irrigation for over three lakh acres and the Warangal Collector reportedly advising farmers not to take up transplantation due to inadequate water availability. “Whom should farmers believe?” he asked.

Harish Rao stated that the sluices under the Ramappa reservoir had been closed even after farmers commenced cultivation, and irrigation was denied despite abundant flows in the Godavari River. He also questioned the delay in operating the scheme since June 1 and blamed the government for failing to release pending payments and ensure uninterrupted power supply to the lift pumps.

Recalling that crop losses worth Rs 700-800 crore were reported under the scheme last year due to delayed pumping, he warned that a similar situation could recur if corrective measures were not taken immediately.