Niranjan Reddy accuses Congress govt of using El Nino as excuse to deny irrigation water

Former Minister S Niranjan Reddy accused the Congress government of using El Nino as an excuse to restrict irrigation water to Telangana farmers. He demanded continuous operation of major lift schemes and alleged that Andhra Pradesh was diverting Telangana's Krishna water.

Hyderabad: Former Minister S Niranjan Reddy accused the Congress government of using El Nino as an excuse to deny irrigation water to farmers in Telangana. He demanded that the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation (KLI) and Jurala project pumps be operated continuously to make optimum use of available water.

Addressing a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Monday, Niranjan Reddy criticised the Congress government for discouraging farmers from cultivating crops by creating fears over water availability. He said about half of the farmers refrained from cultivation because of the government’s repeated warnings, spreading panic.

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He said around 5,000 cusecs of regenerated water was reaching Jurala project daily from Almatti and Narayanapur reservoirs even without floods. He alleged that the government was using El Nino as an excuse only to prevent farmers from cultivation, avoid crop procurement and bonus payments.

The senior BRS leader said the PRLIS, taken up during the BRS government with State funds, could have supplied water across the Palamuru region even under the current conditions if the Congress government spent Rs 600-700 crore to fill its reservoirs. He pointed out that the Srisailam reservoir currently had around 170 TMCft of water and said the BRS government had provided irrigation for two crops even when the reservoir had only 100 TMCft.

Niranjan Reddy said Andhra Pradesh was drawing around 12 TMCft of water a day and accused the Congress government of failing to protect Telangana’s interests. He demanded that the State government take up the alleged water diversion before the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB). He also asked the State government to stop Andhra Pradesh from advancing works on the Velugodu project and Nallamala Sagar without requisite clearances.

The former Minister said the government should explain why irrigation projects and lift schemes were not being completed and operationalised. “If the government cannot provide water, it should tell the people so openly and step down,” he said. He warned that failure to stop the alleged diversion of Telangana’s share of Krishna water would leave the Congress government with a tainted mark in the State’s history.