Harish Rao urges Telangana government to use Godavari floodwater to fill reservoirs

BRS leader T Harish Rao urged the Telangana government to operate available pumps and utilise Godavari floodwater to fill depleted reservoirs. He alleged poor water management by the Congress government and asked it not to blame El Nino.

Hyderabad: BRSLP deputy leader and former Minister T Harish Rao urged the State government to immediately operate all available pumps and utilise the ongoing Godavari River flood flow to fill reservoirs, instead of blaming El Nino for the prevailing water shortage. He said the government was allowing valuable floodwater to flow downstream while reservoirs in Telangana remained depleted.

In a letter to Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday, Harish Rao alleged that reservoirs in the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme were being allowed to remain at low levels despite heavy inflows in the Godavari River. He said the situation exposed poor water management by the Congress government and was hurting farmers amid dry conditions.

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The former Irrigation Minister reminded that the Kaleshwaram project was designed to utilise Godavari River floodwaters and had reservoirs with a combined capacity of 141 TMCft. With drought-like conditions prevailing in parts of the State and flood flows continuing in the Godavari River, he questioned the government’s inaction in utilising the floodwater.

He pointed out that Annapurna and Ranganayaka Sagar reservoirs were in dead storage, while Mallanna Sagar had only 13 TMCft against its 50 TMCft capacity. Kondapochamma Sagar had about 6 TMCft against its 15 TMCft capacity.

Harish Rao suggested that pumping water from the Yellampalli project could help replenish Mid Manair, Annapurna, Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar and Kondapochamma Sagar besides Gandhamalla and Baswapur reservoirs. He said filling these reservoirs could support irrigation over nearly five lakh acres and also serve drinking water requirements of Hyderabad.

The BRSLP deputy leader also pointed to the Lower Manair Dam, which he said had only 11 TMC, and sought water diversion to meet irrigation and drinking water needs in parts of northern Telangana. He said due to lack of water in Ranganayaka Sagar, operation of the palm oil factory at Narmetta in Siddipet district was affected, causing concern among palm oil farmers.

Harish Rao urged the government to run the pumps continuously for 24 hours instead of operating them intermittently and use the available floodwater before it flows downstream. “Do not use El Nino as an excuse to escape responsibility,” he said, urging the government to put politics aside and prioritise farmers’ interests.