KTR demands Congress govt to lift Godavari water at Kannepalli, warns of siege if pumps not operated immediately

BRS working president KT Rama Rao visited the Kannepalli pump house and demanded the immediate lifting of Godavari waters through the Kaleshwaram project, alleging the Congress government was wasting available river water and warning of intensified protests if the pumps remain inoperative

Hyderabad/Warangal: BRS working president KT Rama Rao demanded the immediate lifting of Godavari river waters for irrigation using the Kannepalli pump house, which is part of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, to prevent an irrigation and drinking water crisis in the State amid the El Niño threat. He warned of laying siege to the project if the Congress government failed to operate the pumps.

“If the government still does not respond, we will mobilise 50,000 people and lay siege to the Kannepalli pump house to ensure the pumps are switched on,” he declared.

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Braving repeated police barricades and preventive arrests of party workers, Rama Rao, accompanied by several MLAs and senior BRS leaders from the erstwhile Warangal, Karimnagar and Nalgonda districts, reached the Kannepalli pump house after his convoy was intercepted at multiple locations. They left Hyderabad on Sunday morning to inspect the Kannepalli pump house and address the media.

Police mounted extensive security arrangements across the erstwhile Warangal district and the neighbouring Karimnagar and Nalgonda districts, carrying out preventive arrests of BRS leaders and workers in Jangaon, Station Ghanpur and Hanamkonda districts, while placing several leaders under house arrest in Parkal, Bhupalpally and Wardhannapet. Heavy barricading was erected on the Hyderabad-Warangal National Highway, with Rama Rao’s convoy first stopped at Pembarthi in Jangaon district.

Police reportedly insisted that only three vehicles would be allowed to proceed, triggering heated arguments with BRS leaders. Defying the restrictions, BRS workers removed the barricades and cleared the route for the convoy.

A second blockade was set up at the Raghunathapalli toll plaza, where lorries were parked across the highway to stop the convoy. Rama Rao warned that he would stage an impromptu sit-in on the road unless his vehicles were allowed to proceed.

However, former Minister and Suryapet MLA G Jagadish Reddy, who had reached the spot earlier with a large group of farmers, confronted the police, while BRS cadres lifted the toll barriers and enabled the convoy to continue.

The convoy later reached Parkal, where the BRS working president garlanded the statue of Dr BR Ambedkar before proceeding to Kannepalli. Despite barricades at multiple locations, the BRS team eventually reached the pump house.

Addressing the media after inspecting the water flow at the Kannepalli pump house, Rama Rao alleged that nearly 98,000 cusecs of Godavari water were being allowed to flow wastefully into the sea despite sufficient water being available for lifting at Kannepalli. He asserted that water could be pumped from Kannepalli without depending on the damaged Medigadda barrage, claiming the river level was around 96 metres, while pumping was possible from 92 metres at Kannepalli. “The Congress government is deliberately denying irrigation water to farmers despite its availability. If it is incapable of operating Kaleshwaram, hand it over to KCR for a week and we will fill reservoirs across Telangana,” he said.

Accusing the government of trying to conceal its failure to repair the Medigadda barrage and attempting to project the Kaleshwaram project as redundant, Rama Rao questioned why the administration was preventing the BRS visit if it had nothing to hide. He said farmers themselves had been demanding the operation of the Kannepalli pumps and warned that the BRS would intensify its agitation if the government remained unmoved.

The BRS leader maintained that the immediate lifting of water from Kannepalli could provide irrigation to lakhs of acres, particularly amid concerns over a weak monsoon and possible El Niño conditions. He accused the Congress government of allowing precious river water to drain into the sea instead of safeguarding Telangana’s irrigation needs.