Srinivas Goud accuses Telangana government of failing to secure Tungabhadra water share

Former Minister V Srinivas Goud accused the Telangana government of failing to secure its share of Tungabhadra water and opposed Andhra Pradesh’s Veligonda project inauguration. BRS leaders also demanded operation of Kannepalli pumps and irrigation projects to provide water to farmers.

Hyderabad: Former Minister V Srinivas Goud on Tuesday accused the Telangana government of failing to secure its share of Tungabhadra water, while Karnataka and Andhra Pradesh were utilising the river’s water. He questioned Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy over Telangana not submitting an indent to the Tungabhadra River Management Board.

He said the BRS would soon submit a representation to the Minister and demanded that the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS) be brought under the Tungabhadra Board.

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Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan, Srinivas Goud said Karnataka was acquiring land for raising the Almatti dam height and criticised the Telangana government for not raising objections. He opposed Andhra Pradesh’s proposed inauguration of the Veligonda project on Krishna River on August 31, alleging that it could strengthen the neighbouring State’s case before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal. He demanded that Telangana intervene to stop it.

He pointed out that Krishna River water was already being diverted through the Pothireddypadu project without proper accounting. He demanded that the Palamuru-Rangareddy project and Kannepalli pumps of the Kaleshwaram project be operated, particularly after the recent NDSA and CWPRS findings on the latter.

Former MLA Jaipal Yadav alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy lacked commitment towards Palamuru farmers. He said farmers under Bhima, Nettampadu and RDS were awaiting water. He recalled that the previous BRS government had spent Rs 27,000 crore on the Palamuru-Rangareddy project.

In a separate press conference, former MLA Gandra Venkataramana Reddy said the Medigadda barrage was receiving 1.10 lakh cusecs of inflows and demanded that the Kannepalli pumps be switched on to fill the upstream reservoirs. He alleged that the government was deliberately keeping Kaleshwaram and Devadula projects underutilised, despite the availability of water.

He also criticised the Congress government over fee reimbursement, alleging that it had failed to honour its commitment before the High Court, leaving students without certificates after completing their courses.