Hyderabad: On Sunday, BRS senior leader T Harish Rao criticized the Congress government led by Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for mishandling the state’s irrigation systems during floods.
At a press conference in the Siddipet Camp Office, Harish Rao expressed his disapproval of the government’s actions. He accused them of neglecting the Kaleshwaram project pumps, failing to store floodwaters, and focusing on politics rather than farmers’ needs.
Harish Rao questioned why floodwaters, with Sripada Yellampalli receiving 62,000 cusecs and Kadem project getting over 1.5 lakh cusecs, weren’t used to fill dry reservoirs like Mid Manair, Annapurna, Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma, and Baswapur. He highlighted that activating motors at Nandi Medaram Gayatri Pump House could lift 2 TMCs of water daily to Mid Manair, yet only three of seven motors were operational. Despite alerting Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy a week earlier, no action was taken.
Harish Rao criticized the government for neglect and demanded immediate activation of the motors to protect Rabi crops. He warned that frequent switching of motors could damage them, as each motor uses as much power as a whole district.
He urged that all seven motors at Yellampalli should run continuously to bring in at least 2 TMCs of water daily to Mid Manair. From there, 1 TMC per day should be channeled to various reservoirs to ensure adequate water for the next Rabi season. He accused the Congress government of keeping motors off to falsely claim the Kaleshwaram project failed.
Rao stated that if the government doesn’t act, he and thousands of farmers would march to the pump houses to turn the motors on themselves. “The BRS government built this system to lift 2 TMCs daily. We won’t remain silent as water goes to waste. We will ensure farmers receive water,” said Harish Rao.
