Niranjan Reddy accuses govt of failing to protect irrigation interests

Former Minister S Niranjan Reddy accused the Congress government of failing to protect Telangana’s irrigation interests, alleging illegal diversion of river waters. BRS leaders also criticised governance and raised concerns over a proposed law on hate speech.

Hyderabad: Former Minister S Niranjan Reddy accused the Congress government of failing to safeguard Telangana’s irrigation interests and allowing Krishna river waters to be diverted to Andhra Pradesh in violation of norms. He demanded that the government initiate immediate measures to safeguard the interests of Telangana and ensure release of water to standing crops.

Addressing the media at Telangana Bhavan on Tuesday, Niranjan Reddy said the State government remained a mute spectator while Andhra Pradesh drew excess water without formal indents. He questioned why the government did not seek an Apex Council meeting despite repeated violations of the Krishna river water sharing framework. He raised concern over attempts to divert Godavari river waters into the Krishna basin illegally to projects such as Handri-Neeva and Galeru-Nagari.

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The former Minister said the Congress government neither completed pending works of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme nor utilised flood flows, which was causing huge losses to farmers of erstwhile Nalgonda, Mahabubnagar and Rangareddy districts, where crops were at a critical stage. He criticised the Centre for not intervening, despite the Krishna River Management Board being under its purview.

He said the government was not even taking up minor repairs like allocating Rs 10 crore for pump restoration. He asserted that optimal use of schemes like the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation could irrigate lakhs of acres.

BRS general secretary RS Praveen Kumar stated that Telangana was not being governed by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy, but was effectively controlled by his mentor and Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu. He said the opponents of Telangana statehood were now back in power, with Revanth Reddy serving only a nominal role.

He also criticised the proposed Prevention of Hate Speech and Crimes Bill, which was aimed at curbing dissent and tightening control over social media, print and electronic media. He warned that the law could expand liability and implicate even members of WhatsApp groups for content deemed objectionable by the government.

BRS MLA Vijayudu, former MLAs Beeram Harshavardhan Reddy, Marri Janardhan Reddy and Ala Venkateswar Reddy were present.