Harish Rao accuses Telangana government of failing to ensure power and water supply

BRS leader T Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government has failed to ensure uninterrupted power and drinking water supply across Telangana. Following an inspection in Bommalaramaram, he also raised concerns over pending Rythu Bima claims and idle thermal power generation capacity

Nalgonda: BRS Deputy Floor Leader T Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government has failed to ensure uninterrupted electricity, drinking water and irrigation supply across Telangana.

Harish Rao conducted a surprise inspection of the Solepet Electricity Substation in Bommalaramaram mandal of Aler Assembly constituency along with former Aler MLA Gongidi Sunitha. He examined the substation logbook, interacted with electricity department staff and reviewed records related to agricultural power supply.

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Speaking to the media after the inspection, Harish Rao said he had visited the constituency to console the family of a deceased BRS worker. He said local women complained that drinking water was being supplied only once every two days. He charged that despite inheriting a fully functional Mission Bhagiratha network developed by the previous BRS government, the Congress government had failed to maintain the system.

Harish Rao claimed that people in Sangareddy, Narayankhed, Andole, Zaheerabad, Kamareddy, Yadadri Bhuvanagiri, Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar and several other districts were facing severe drinking water shortages, forcing women to fetch water from distant places.

He said the inspection at Solepet Substation was prompted by complaints from farmers over prolonged power cuts. According to Harish Rao, the substation operator informed him that farmers had earlier received 14 to 15 hours of electricity, but fresh government instructions had reduced agricultural power supply to 12 hours a day. He alleged that even during these 12 hours, repeated tripping disrupted the supply.

Claiming that the Congress had made several promises to farmers before the elections, Harish Rao alleged that the government was instead reducing electricity supply and cutting welfare and agricultural support.

He also questioned Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka’s recent statement that there were no power cuts in Telangana. “If there are no power cuts, why do the official records at Solepet Substation show only 12 hours of agricultural supply?”Harish Rao asked.

He charged that farmers across Telangana were being forced to protest outside electricity substations due to inadequate power supply during the paddy transplantation season.

The BRS Deputy Floor Leader further maintained that the government’s failure to maintain adequate coal stocks had kept two units with a combined capacity of 1,600 MW at the Yadadri Thermal Power Plant shut for several months. He added that another 270 MW unit at the Bhadradri Thermal Power Plant had also stopped generation.

Despite Telangana having access to Singareni coal, he questioned why 1,870 MW of thermal power generation had been allowed to remain idle. “There is no shortage of electricity. There is only a shortage of political will,” he said.

Harish Rao demanded that the government immediately restore the stalled 1,870 MW power generation capacity at the Yadadri and Bhadradri thermal power plants and ensure uninterrupted 24-hour quality power supply to farmers, particularly during the prevailing drought conditions.

He also sought an immediate statewide review of the Mission Bhagiratha scheme to restore daily drinking water supply to households.

Referring to the Rythu Bima scheme, Harish Rao said officials informed him that several insurance claims in Bommalaramaram mandal remained pending. He charged that nearly 4,000 farmer families across Telangana had not received the Rs.5 lakh Rythu Bima insurance benefit even five months after the deaths of the insured farmers.

Questioning whether the government had failed to pay the insurance premium to LIC, Harish Rao demanded an immediate review of the scheme.