Ponnala questions ill-advised moves of govt on water front, says 60 TMCs drained from Godavari basin projects

This could have been utilised for filling as many as 19 reservoirs under the project. He also wondered why the State representatives had abstained from the three-member committee meeting of the KRMB two days ago.

Hyderabad: Holding the ill-advised moves of Congress government squarely responsible for the impending water crisis and crop losses on an extensive scale in the State, Congress leader and former irrigation minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah said on Saturday that the ministers concerned owed an explanation to the people on their failures in the water front.

Addressing a news conference at Telangana Bhavan, he said nearly 60 tmc of water was let off from the Godavari basin reservoirs in the last four months.

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The State had failed to assert its legitimate stand on the Krishna rivers waters too.

The government had failed miserably this year in making use of the water resources harnessed so well during the past ten year BRS rule.

Ridiculing the claim that the barrages of KLIS were drained as desired by the NDSA, he questioned as to why the government did not opt for lifting water from Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages to Yellampalli and other upstream reservoirs after noticing structural issues at Medigadda.

This water could have helped save the standing crops in the State in a big way today. About 6.8 tmc of water was let off from Medigadda. Some four TMCs of water was let off from Annaram and Sundilla barrages. Over 48 tmc of water was let off from Devadula from December 7, 2023 to March 7, 2024 .

This could have been utilised for filling as many as 19 reservoirs under the project. He also wondered why the State representatives had abstained from the three-member committee meeting of the KRMB two days ago.

When the State was badly in need of water drawl from the Nagarjuna Sagar project, it should have taken part in the meeting to stake claim for more water to meet its needs.

It seems to have no answer to the KRMB contention that Telangana had already utilised over seven TMCs over and above its allotted share for the year.

With the Congress party being in rule in both Telangana and Karnataka, it would not be difficult to get five to six tmcs of water from Almatti as emergency releases. He took a strong exception to the blame game being played by the Congress ministers and said they cannot absolve themselves of the responsibility for the water crisis.