Harish Rao accuses Congress of neglecting Kaleshwaram

BRS leader T Harish Rao accused the Congress government of neglecting Kaleshwaram and aggravating drought conditions. He demanded a white paper on river flows, immediate repairs to Medigadda barrage, and disclosure of the Tummidihatti project's feasibility, water availability and estimated cost.

Hyderabad: BRS deputy floor leader T Harish Rao termed the Congress government’s renewed engagement with Maharashtra over the proposed Tummidihatti project as diversionary politics to cover up its failure to revive the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. He asserted that the Kaleshwaram project remained Telangana’s only lifeline to mitigate drought.

He rubbished the government’s arguments on water availability, questioning why it failed to lift water when flows were better. He also called the government’s argument blaming El Nino for drought conditions a lame excuse and demanded the release of a white paper on water flows in the Godavari and Krishna rivers over the last five months.

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Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan on Monday, Harish Rao held the Congress government squarely responsible for the drought conditions. He pointed out that the ruling Congress had kept the Kaleshwaram project idle for nearly three years to deny credit to BRS chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao. He urged the government to set aside politics and prioritise water supply to people. He demanded the immediate resumption of water lifting from the Kannepalli pump house, besides repairs to the Medigadda barrage.

Dismissing the government’s El Nino argument as an excuse, he questioned why Telangana had announced a crop holiday despite a 17 per cent rainfall deficiency, while downstream Andhra Pradesh, with a reported 33 per cent deficiency, had not. He demanded that the government disclose water availability, pump operating hours and the quantity lifted, alleging that its failure to utilise available water had aggravated the drought.

The former Irrigation Minister sought white papers on the operation of the Devadula and Kalwakurthy lift irrigation schemes. He alleged that effective operation of Devadula could have irrigated parts of the erstwhile Karimnagar district and large areas of the erstwhile Warangal district. He said that at Kalwakurthy, only two of the five motors were operating, with pumping restricted to 12 hours a day.

Contrasting this with Andhra Pradesh’s use of the Pattiseema lift scheme, he asked why Telangana was not operating its irrigation projects effectively. He stated that the Congress government was allowing water to flow downstream while farmers faced challenges.

He also alleged that retired engineers who recommended operating the Kannepalli pumps had been threatened with punitive action. He urged the government to stop political diversions and safeguard the State’s interests.

Questions over Tummidihatti

Harish Rao said the BRS government held negotiations with Maharashtra soon after assuming office in 2014 to take up Tummidihatti, holding several rounds of talks that year and in 2015. The then Chief Minister Chandrashekar Rao personally urged Maharashtra to agree to a water level of 152 metres at Tummidihatti, he said. He said, in contrast, the present government took 1,054 days to hold its first meeting with Maharashtra.

He explained that the BRS shifted to Kaleshwaram after the Central Water Commission (CWC) indicated that the required water was unavailable at Tummidihatti. Citing communications dated February 18, March 4 and March 13, 2015, he said the Centre had questioned the availability of 160 TMCft and advised Telangana to explore alternatives. With Hyderabad and other districts requiring about 50 TMCft for drinking water, he questioned whether Tummidihatti could meet the State’s irrigation needs.

The BRSLP deputy leader said the party had no objection to the Congress pursuing Tummidihatti but questioned the proposal’s feasibility, water availability and likely cost. He challenged the government’s proposal to spend about Rs 25,000 crore to bring water from Tummidihatti to Sundilla, suspecting that the Congress might escalate the cost to Rs 30,000 crore or Rs 40,000 crore even before the works commenced. He demanded that the government release the detailed project report (DPR) and explain how water could be supplied by gravity from Tummidihatti to Yellampalli.

“If Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy proves that water could be supplied from Tummidihatti to Yellampalli through gravity without using lifts, I will resign immediately. Otherwise, will Uttam Kumar Reddy resign from his post?” he challenged.

He said the BRS planned to lift 240 TMCft at Medigadda, developed the Chennur lift irrigation scheme to irrigate one lakh acres in the erstwhile Adilabad district, and prepared a DPR for a 20-TMCft Wardha project. The Wardha proposal was returned by the Centre after the Congress came to power, he added.

Immediate repairs demanded

Harish Rao cited findings attributed to the National Dam Safety Authority and the Central Water and Power Research Station to argue that the State could decide on lifting water and that Annaram and Sundilla barrages were reported to be in good condition. He accused the government of delaying repairs to Medigadda for political reasons.

Questioning Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s assertion that money could be obtained through various means but water could not be bought, the BRS leader asked why the government was not lifting water when the opportunity existed. He demanded immediate repairs to Medigadda and the operation of Kannepalli pumps, arguing that keeping Kaleshwaram idle was worsening the drought and hurting farmers.