El Niño, KCR’s failures behind Telangana water woes: Uttam

metro india news  I hyderabad

Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday attributed the State’s present water scarcity to a combination of El Niño conditions and what he termed failures of the previous BRS government in the irrigation sector.

Speaking to journalists in the Assembly lobbies, Uttam said El Niño had affected rainfall and water availability, while the previous government’s failure to complete key irrigation projects despite spending about Rs.1.81 lakh crore had made Telangana more vulnerable to water stress.

“The farmers of Telangana are facing difficulties because of two factors — Mr El Niño and Mr KCR,” he said.

The Minister alleged that several projects pending since the formation of Telangana, including Kalwakurthy, Nettampadu, Koilsagar, Bheema and the SLBC tunnel, remained incomplete despite substantial expenditure during the BRS’s decade in power.

He was particularly critical of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, claiming that around Rs.27,500 crore had been spent without creating the required irrigation potential through the distributory network. He also questioned the shifting of the project’s source from Jurala to Srisailam, arguing that the former was entirely within Telangana and could have reduced interstate complications.

Uttam said the Congress government had finalised the water source for the Dindi project and sanctioned around Rs.1,800 crore to take it forward. He also alleged that the previous government had failed to secure necessary environmental clearances for several major projects.

On Kaleshwaram, Uttam criticised former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao’s proposed mass mobilisation, asking what the BRS intended to showcase when the Medigadda barrage had suffered serious structural damage. He said the Congress government was undertaking investigations and rehabilitation measures with the assistance of national and international experts, including measures involving diaphragm walls and improvements to stilling-basin arrangements.

The Minister said the government was also carefully conserving available reservoir stocks to meet irrigation and drinking-water requirements through the summer.

Rejecting allegations that the Congress was compromising Telangana’s water interests, Uttam said the State had utilised its due Krishna water share during the last three water years. He said Telangana would continue pursuing its Krishna and Godavari entitlements before tribunals, the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) and other competent forums.

“We are fighting far more effectively for Telangana’s rights over Krishna and Godavari waters. There will be no compromise on the State’s interests,” he said.