KTR accuses Congress of creating drought despite Telangana’s irrigation infrastructure

BRS working president KT Rama Rao demanded a sitting judge’s inquiry into alleged Singareni irregularities and proposed foreign coal imports. He blamed the Congress government for Telangana’s drought, alleging water wastage, declining coal production and inadequate support for distressed farmers

Hyderabad: BRS working president KT Rama Rao on Friday challenged Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy to order an inquiry by a sitting judge into alleged irregularities in Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL) and the proposed imports of foreign coal. He held the Congress government responsible for the drought conditions prevailing in Telangana, citing water availability in neighbouring Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh.

Addressing a meeting of BRS leaders from Narsampet constituency at Telangana Bhavan here, Rama Rao criticised the Congress government for weakening Singareni and creating a coal shortage to facilitate expensive imports in return for commissions. He challenged the Chief Minister to order an investigation into an alleged Rs 10,000-crore scam involving his brother-in-law in Singareni. He also said he would soon expose an alleged solar power scam in the company.

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Launching a broadside against the Chief Minister, Rama Rao called Revanth Reddy an “EMI Chief Minister”, alleging that he would lose his post if monthly instalments were not sent to Delhi.

“He has been indulging in multiple scams and looting the State to send funds to Delhi. The foreign coal imports is another strategy with the same purpose,” he said.

The BRS working president rejected the Chief Minister’s claims that the previous BRS government was responsible for the coal shortage. He said Singareni had produced about 70 million tonnes of coal under the previous BRS government, supporting an uninterrupted power supply. He alleged that coal production had declined under the Congress government, while nearly Rs 60,000 crore in dues remained unpaid to the company.

Rama Rao questioned the government’s power procurement policy, contrasting the previous BRS government’s purchase price of Rs 3.90 per unit with the Congress government’s reported plans to buy power at Rs 15 per unit. He accused Revanth Reddy of ordering an inquiry into earlier power purchases with political motives to target the BRS, while now justifying his decisions by citing power shortages.

Rama Rao also blamed the Congress government for allowing Godavari and Krishna river waters to flow downstream despite advance warnings of El Niño. He said the BRS had repeatedly urged the government, six months earlier, to lift water from Kaleshwaram, but the pumps had not been operated. He claimed that nearly 1,000 TMCft of water had gone to waste, leaving farmers facing crop losses and shortages of drinking and irrigation water.

“You have allowed around 750 TMCft of water from the Godavari and another 250 TMCft from the Krishna to flow downstream without filling reservoirs in Telangana, but are now blaming El Niño and asking farmers not to cultivate crops,” he said.

Comparing Telangana’s situation with that of Andhra Pradesh, the former Minister said the neighbouring State had diverted water through Pattiseema and other projects, supplying it to areas as far as Kuppam, around 700 km away, while Telangana could not supply water to Mahabubnagar, barely 70 km from the Krishna river.

“This is not a drought brought by fate, but one created by the Congress,” he said.

Appealing to the government to set politics aside and support distressed farmers, Rama Rao said Telangana was heading towards drought despite its irrigation infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Rama Rao promised to take responsibility for Narsampet’s development if the BRS returned to power. He also assured support to the family of former MLA Peddi Sudarshan Reddy. Calling on party workers to remain united and work for the BRS’s victory in the constituency, he asserted that BRS president K Chandrashekhar Rao would return as Chief Minister after the 2028 elections.