Harish Rao defends Kaleshwaram project shift to Medigadda, nullifies Congress claims

The senior BRS MLA vows to expose the Congress party’s “false propaganda” and provide a clear account of the project’s achievements

Hyderabad: Defending the decision to shift the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project from Tummidihatti to Medigadda, BRS leader and senior MLA T Harish Rao on Saturday asserted that the move was driven by technical and hydrological necessities, not political motives.

Making a powerpoint presentation on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation project here, he declared his readiness to appear before the Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose panel and present facts to counter what he described as a “Congress’ misinformation campaign” on the project.

Harish Rao questioned Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s claims that the BRS fears the Commission’s probe, asking, “Who told the CM that we are afraid of the Kaleshwaram inquiry?”

He vowed to expose the Congress party’s “false propaganda” and provide a clear account of the project’s achievements.

Earlier, detailing the reasons behind the shift from Tummidihatti to Medigadda, he recounted the challenges faced by the BRS government after Telangana’s formation on June 2, 2014. He had led a team of engineers to Maharashtra to discuss the project’s feasibility with then-Congress Irrigation Minister Hasan Mushrif.

Maharashtra authorities cited a letter from former Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister Kiran Kumar Reddy, which restricted the Full Reservoir Level (FRL) at Tummidihatti to 148 metres instead of the proposed 152 metres. Maharashtra’s refusal to approve the higher FRL rendered the original plan unviable.

Despite multiple rounds of negotiations, including two meetings in Hyderabad and assurances from irrigation expert R Vidyasagar Rao, Maharashtra remained firm.

The Central Water Commission (CWC) further complicated matters by highlighting deficiencies in the 2008 Detailed Project Report (DPR) from the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh government.

Besides inadequate water storage capacity at Tummidihatti, he said hydrological assessments also confirmed insufficient water availability to meet the project’s goals. Faced with these obstacles, the BRS government, under then Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao, explored alternative sites.

After Maharashtra’s elections, Rao met with the State’s new BJP Irrigation Minister Girish Mahajan, who suggested resolving the issue at the Chief Ministerial level. Ultimately, WAPCOS, a Central Government PSU, recommended shifting the project to Medigadda, where water availability was considerably higher at 1,651 TMC compared to Tummidihatti’s limited capacity.

The Medigadda site enabled the construction of three barrages — Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla — storing 38 TMC of water in the Godavari river, and irrigating drought-prone areas. Rao highlighted that the project directly irrigated 98,570 acres, with an additional 39,146 acres through 456 minor irrigation tanks and 1.67 lakh acres via 2,143 tanks under SRSP Stage 1, SRSP Stage 2, and Nizam Sagar projects.

Additionally, 17.08 lakh acres of ayacut were stabilised, and 20,576 acres benefited through 66 check dams along Kudelli and Haldi streams.

Harish Rao criticised the Congress for inconsistent claims about the project’s impact, noting that while Revanth Reddy claimed no land was irrigated, Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy cited 50,000 acres, and another Congress leader mentioned one lakh acres. “Their numbers don’t add up,” he said, accusing the Congress of misleading the public.

He also took a swipe at the BJP, alleging that the NDPS has become their “pocket organisation,” and reiterated that the Kaleshwaram Project, now the world’s largest multi-stage lift irrigation scheme, had transformed Telangana’s agriculture. He called for a fair assessment of the project’s contributions, emphasising that its re-engineering was a pragmatic response to technical and inter-State challenges.