Harish Rao lashes out at Congress for negligence in completing pending works in irrigation sector

Criticises ruling party’s claims on Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme as politically motivated to divert attention from government's failures

Hyderabad: Former Minister and senior BRS MLA T Harish Rao lambasted Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for sacrificing Telangana’s water needs for political vendetta against the previous BRS government. He criticised the Congress government’s claims on Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) as politically motivated to divert attention from the government’s failures.

Former Ministers Harish Rao and S Niranjan Reddy released the books ‘Kaleshwaram Project: Questions – Criticisms – Distortions – Explanations’ and ‘Telangana’s Ten-Year Journey in the Irrigation Sector’ authored by irrigation expert Sridhar Deshpande in Hyderabad on Friday.

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They came down heavily on the misinformation campaign against the project and its stability, explaining the rationale and long-term vision behind the project.

Addressing a packed audience at the Telugu University Auditorium, Harish Rao highlighted alarming failures under the current Congress regime. He lambasted the Congress government for peddling half-truths and politically motivated distortions about the Kaleshwaram project. “Revanth Reddy is busy maligning a project that ensured water security to 37 lakh acres. Is it politics first or people first?” he questioned.

Citing past central reports and WAPCOS surveys, the former Irrigation Minister justified the relocation of the project from Tummidihatti to Medigadda, citing water availability and topography. He charged the successive Congress governments for stalling the project between 2007 and 2014, and questioned the rationale of criticising escalations in project costs when similar patterns exist in national projects like Srisailam and Nagarjuna Sagar.

Further, he pointed out that the previous Congress regime had squandered over Rs 2,600 crore in the name of mobilisation advances for multiple irrigation projects in Telangana region of erstwhile Andhra Pradesh. “Deshpande’s book busts these lies with official data, WAPCOS surveys, and CWC permissions,” he added.

The senior BRS legislator said the Congress government has ceded Telangana’s rights to Andhra Pradesh by silently surrendering irrigation projects to the KRMB, ignoring hard-won protections achieved under Section 3 after years of BRS’ fight. He found fault with the appointment of retired IAS officer Adityanath Das who was responsible for obstructing Telangana’s irrigation projects, as the government advisor on irrigation.

Harish Rao reminded that it was the BRS government that built 141 TMC capacity through reservoirs like Mallanna Sagar. “Today, they draw drinking water from it for Hyderabad, yet claim the entire project was a waste,” he said. He accused Congress of failing to utilise even 34 per cent of Telangana’s rightful share in Krishna River waters, despite Andhra Pradesh drawing over 700 TMC. “This government has neither vision nor will. It is undoing ten years of sweat, science, and sacrifice,” he said, adding that water is Telangana’s lifeline and it is not negotiable.