Withdraw letter declaring only 45 TMCft sufficient in Krishna River water: Harish Rao

BRS leader T Harish Rao accused the Congress government of weakening Telangana’s irrigation interests by informing the Centre that 45 TMC of Krishna water was enough for Palamuru Rangareddy project, and demanded correction to 90 TMC.

Hyderabad: BRS senior leader and former Minister T Harish Rao demanded that the Congress government immediately withdraw its letter to the Centre stating that 45 TMC of Krishna water was sufficient for the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project. He insisted that Telangana’s rightful demand was 90 TMC and warned of mass mobilisations across Mahabubnagar, Nalgonda and Rangareddy if the demand was not corrected.

In a point-by-point rebuttal, he launched a sharp attack against the Congress government, accusing Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy of betraying Telangana’s irrigation and water interests, particularly in the erstwhile Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy and Nalgonda districts.

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Speaking to mediapersons at Telangana Bhavan on Monday, Harish Rao said Revanth Reddy failed to respond to former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao’s questions on irrigation and instead resorted to cheap and abusive rhetoric. “KCR spoke like a statesman, while Revanth Reddy spoke like a street rowdy. While KCR raised issues concerning the State, Revanth Reddy held a late night informal media interaction only to continue his rhetoric,” he said.

He ridiculed Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy for claiming different shares of Krishna River water, ranging from 500 TMCft to 900 TMCft. “These contradictory statements by the Chief Minister and Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy are weakening Telangana’s case and risking the loss of its legitimate share,” he warned.

The BRS leader accused the Congress of deliberate inaction while Andhra Pradesh was allegedly diverting excess Krishna River waters, and charged the government with failing to secure even a single fresh central approval for irrigation projects in two years. In contrast, he said the BRS government had obtained multiple statutory clearances and completed nearly 90 per cent of the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Project, with key components such as the Narlapur reservoir nearing completion.

Harish Rao rejected claims that no new ayacut was created under BRS rule, asserting that nearly 49 lakh acres were either newly irrigated or stabilised between 2014 and 2023. He challenged the Congress to identify even 11,000 acres irrigated during its two-year tenure, against ambitious budget claims of plans to create over 11 lakh acres of irrigation potential in two years.

He also defended the BRS record on Krishna water allocations, citing repeated representations, legal action and success in forcing the Centre to take up river water sharing under Section 3. Terming the Congress indifferent and incompetent, he said its policies were endangering Telangana’s water security and farmers’ future.

The former Minister ridiculed the Chief Minister’s remarks on economic terrorism under BRS rule, pointing to UK former Prime Minister Tony Blair and former RBI Governor Duvvuri Subba Rao, who attended the recent Global Summit organised by the Congress government and hailed Telangana’s economic progress within 10 years of its formation. “Revanth Reddy should stop damaging the State’s reputation by making such false claims,” he said.

He also rubbished the Chief Minister’s allegations of threats to Chandrashekhar Rao within the party. He said Chandrashekhar Rao was a father figure to them and they would never betray him. “Not everyone is like Revanth Reddy, who has switched parties frequently. He is making such remarks only to avoid answering the questions raised by KCR,” he remarked.