Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLA T Harish Rao on Sunday, July 12, criticised Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy for his alleged remarks on farmers.
Rao accused the CM of using derogatory language against the farmers during a press meet. He described the remarks as “disturbing and unbecoming of a constitutional office,” alleging that it reflected “lies, abusive language and a disturbing mindset.”
Addressing the media at the Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad, the former Telangana minister said that instead of responding to farmers’ demand for irrigation water, the chief minister spoke about “spilling the blood of political opponents” and “beating them with belts,” remarks which, according to Harish Rao, were shocking coming from a sitting CM.
Rao said that the CM was abusing the farmers while latter are demanding water adding that such derogatory language has no place in a democracy.
On Godavari waters
The Siddipet MLA also accused the Telangana government of not using water from the Godavari river for the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project deliberately.
He stated that after BRS Working President KT Rama Rao visited Medigadda and publicly demonstrated that Godavari carried sufficient water, the government’s earlier claim that there was no water in the river stood exposed.
On Kannepalli pump house
Referring to the Chief Minister’s remarks regarding Kannapalli Pump House operations, Rao said the CM displayed a lack of understanding of the project’s engineering design.
The former Telangana Irrigation minister explained that the Kannapalli pumps are capable of operating when water reaches 93.5 metres, while the present river level stands at 97.5 metres, making gate closure unnecessary.
He said that even Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy had to intervene during the Chief Minister’s press conference to correct technical inaccuracies.
Rao also alleged that the government had changed its stand on retired irrigation engineers. While it earlier described them as experts, it was now allegedly threatening action against them after they recommended lifting available Godavari water to protect farmers during drought conditions.
He clarified that retired engineers had never stated that Medigadda was technically unviable. Instead, he said, they had recommended transferring water through a series of barrages to Yellampalli, a position they had also submitted before the Justice Ghosh Commission.
According to the BRS MLA, officials from the irrigation department themselves had informed the government that a temporary cofferdam costing approximately Rs 8.5 crore would enable immediate transfer of water to Yellampalli.
Rao alleged that despite these technical recommendations, the government continued to keep the pumps idle because operating the system would expose what he described as the Congress government’s misinformation campaign against Kaleshwaram.
He also rejected Reddy’s claim that the Congress government had completed the Yellampalli Project.
He said that although the foundation stone was laid during the undivided Andhra Pradesh period, only limited land acquisition and rehabilitation had been initiated before Telangana’s formation.
According to him, the BRS government completed the remaining land acquisition, rehabilitated over 13,000 affected families, invested more than Rs 2,000 crore, and made the reservoir fully operational with its 20 TMC storage capacity after 2016.
He warned that Yellampalli currently held only about 4 to 5 TMC of usable water, after excluding dead storage, while the reservoir must support drinking water, thermal power generation, industries, Singareni operations and Hyderabad’s water supply.
“If the government refuses to lift water because of political ego, thermal power generation could be affected and the state may face an avoidable power crisis,” he cautioned.
Highlighting BRS’s irrigation achievements, the former minister said that while the previous Congress government had irrigated only 6.64 lakh acres over ten years, the BRS government expanded irrigation to nearly 48.74 lakh acres through Kaleshwaram and completion of pending irrigation projects.
He noted that even in Mahabubnagar district, the Congress had irrigated only 46,000 acres over three decades, whereas the BRS government extended irrigation to nearly 6.5 lakh acres.
Harish Rao also credited former chief minister K Chandrashekar Rao’s policies including 24-hour free power supply, Rythu Bandhu and expanded irrigation for the dramatic increase in paddy production.
He said Telangana’s paddy production increased from 68 lakh metric tonnes in 2014-15 to nearly 2.60 crore metric tonnes by 2023-24, while cultivated paddy area expanded from 34 lakh acres to 1.18 crore acres.
He dismissed the government’s claims that retaining water in Annaram and Sundilla barrages would endanger Bhadrachalam, describing them as technically baseless.
According to him, even if both barrages simultaneously released their stored water, the discharge would be insignificant compared to the 28 lakh cusec flood safely handled in 2022.
Responding to repeated allegations of corruption in the Kaleshwaram Project, Rao rejected Reddy’s claim that Rs 1 lakh crore had been spent.
He stated that the total project expenditure stood at around Rs 87,000 crore, of which only about 10 percent related to the Medigadda Yellampalli stretch, while the remaining infrastructure including reservoirs, canals, tunnels and pumping stations continued to function.
The BRS MLA also criticised the government’s handling of irrigation infrastructure over the past two and a half years, citing incidents including the collapse of the SLBC tunnel, the Sunkishala project, flooding of the Vattem Pump House and damage to the Peddavagu Project.
He asked why officials associated with the Polavaram Project where repeated structural failures reportedly caused losses of around Rs 7,000 crore were now being relied upon to assess Medigadda.
The former minister alleged that instead of utilising available Godavari water through Kannapalli, Devadula and Sitarama Lift Irrigation Projects, the Congress government was allowing water to flow downstream, indirectly benefiting Andhra Pradesh’s Pattiseema Lift Irrigation Scheme.
He accused Reddy of placing political considerations above Telangana’s irrigation interests.
Referring to corruption allegations, the Siddipet MLA claimed that commission payments had become institutionalised under the present government and cited statements made by the Prime Minister regarding alleged “RR Tax.”
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