telangana

KTR Blames Congress Government for Wasting River Water as Andhra Pradesh Irrigates, Telangana Crops Wither

BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao accused the Congress‑led Telangana government of letting 1,000 TMCft of Godavari and Krishna water flow into the sea while Andhra Pradesh uses it for irrigation. He urged immediate operation of Kaleshwaram pumps and warned of political fallout if the crisis persists.

By Indrajeet Devulapally ·

What happened

BRS working president K.T. Rama Rao accused the Congress‑led Telangana government of letting 1,000 TMCft of Godavari and Krishna water flow into the sea while Andhra Pradesh uses it for irrigation. He urged immediate operation of Kaleshwaram pumps and warned of political fallout if the crisis persists. KTR accuses Telangana’s Congress government of wasting 1,000 TMCft of river water while Andhra Pradesh irrigates, urging immediate pump operation to save crops.

TL;DR

KTR accuses Telangana’s Congress government of wasting 1,000 TMCft of river water while Andhra Pradesh irrigates, urging immediate pump operation to save crops.

Key points

Hyderabad – K.T. Rama Rao, the working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), alleged on Tuesday that the Congress‑run Telangana government is allowing vast quantities of water from the Godavari and Krishna rivers to run downstream into the sea, while neighbouring Andhra Pradesh is successfully irrigating its fields. Rao said the situation is not a natural drought but a man‑made crisis caused by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s “negligence and failure to operate irrigation projects.”

Speaking at a gathering in Telangana Bhavan that welcomed Congress and BJP cadres from Nirmal district into the BRS, Rao highlighted that around 750 TMCft of Godavari water and another 250 TMCft of Krishna water had already been lost to the sea. He argued that effective utilisation of the combined 1,000 TMCft could have irrigated roughly one crore acres in Telangana. The BRS leader blamed Revanth Reddy for keeping the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme’s pumps, particularly at the Kannepalli pump house, switched off for “political reasons.”

Rao demanded that the state set aside partisan differences and immediately operate the Kaleshwaram and Palamuru‑Rangareddy lift irrigation schemes to protect standing crops. He warned that the failure to store water in anticipation of drought conditions is deepening agrarian distress.

The BRS chief also listed a series of hardships faced by farmers under the Congress administration: delayed Rythu Bandhu payments, inadequate power supply, urea shortages and a lack of irrigation water. Some farmers, he said, are resorting to tankers to bring water to their fields and even selling livestock to survive.

Contrasting the current scenario with a decade of BRS rule, Rao recalled policies such as 24‑hour free power, expanded irrigation facilities and welfare schemes. He accused the Congress of reneging on election promises that were pledged to be fulfilled within 100 days. Rao further criticised the chief minister for prioritising visits to Delhi over farmer concerns, labeling him a “renewal Chief Minister.”

Rao reiterated that the return of former chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao to power is essential for reviving Telangana’s development and welfare programmes. He expressed confidence that the farming community would soon deliver a “fitting lesson” to the Congress.

Addressing the BJP’s role in Nirmal, Rao noted that despite the party’s MLA and MP winning the constituency, development initiatives such as a medical college, irrigation projects and the Mission Bhagiratha water supply were largely undertaken during the previous BRS tenure. He announced a public meeting in Nirmal on 11 November, urging party leaders and workers to strengthen the BRS’s presence in the area.