Harish Rao questions Congress over Devadula project operation

BRS leader T Harish Rao accused the Congress government of failing to utilise Godavari floodwaters despite adequate inflows. He demanded the operation of the Devadula and Kannepalli systems, defended the Kaleshwaram project, and challenged the government to an Assembly debate.

Hyderabad: Putting the Congress government in the dock amid the ongoing political tussle over the Kaleshwaram project, BRSLP deputy leader and former Irrigation Minister T Harish Rao questioned why the government was not operating the Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme at full capacity despite heavy flood inflows into the Godavari River at the Medigadda barrage. He charged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy with denying irrigation water to farmers despite the possibility of lifting adequate water into reservoirs.

“Nearly one lakh cusecs of floodwater was flowing into the Medigadda barrage. Revanth Reddy is not willing to operate the Kaleshwaram project. But what is stopping him from operating the Devadula project? The water level stood at 76 metres, which is well above the 71-metre level required to operate the Devadula pumps. Yet, only 2,542 cusecs are being lifted through the project,” he said, calling the government’s failure to utilise the available water criminal negligence.

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Harish Rao rebutted the Congress government’s claims on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme and the availability of Godavari River water in a detailed presentation at Telangana Bhavan on Wednesday.

Maintaining that Medigadda continued to receive water even during El Nino conditions, the BRSLP deputy leader said about 7.5 TMCft of water was being allowed to go waste every day and reiterated the demand to immediately switch on the Kannepalli pumps and maximise utilisation of the available Godavari flows. “Even today, the Medigadda barrage is receiving over 89,000 cusecs of water, and if utilised properly, we can lift 3-4 TMCft every day,” he asserted.

Harish Rao alleged that tanks across the undivided Warangal district were drying up despite the availability of water and demanded the immediate operation of both the Devadula scheme and the Kannepalli pump house to protect standing crops. He also challenged the Congress government to hold a discussion in the Assembly on the Kaleshwaram project, stating that he was prepared to participate and answer all its allegations.

Rejecting the government’s claims on the proposed Tummidihetti project, the former Minister maintained that the Central Water Commission had ruled that sufficient water was unavailable at the site. He challenged Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to produce documentary proof that the previous Congress governments had secured approval for a 152-metre Full Reservoir Level. Failing that, he said, the Chief Minister should apologise for misleading the public.

Accusing the Congress of trying to discredit the Kaleshwaram project, Harish Rao said the project had secured clearances from 18 Central agencies and expanded irrigation potential from 16 lakh acres to 37 lakh acres while increasing water utilisation from 160 TMCft to 240 TMCft.

He also alleged collusion between the State and the Centre over the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) reports on Medigadda, stating that they were being timed for political purposes. He reminded that even the NDSA had recommended taking up repairs at the Medigadda barrage, but the Congress government had not initiated them despite being in power for 31 months.