Kannepalli pumps can be operated at current water level: Harish Rao

BRS Assembly Leader T. Harish Rao at a press conference in Hyderabad on Sunday.

HYDERABAD

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) floor leader representative in the Assembly T. Harish Rao questioned Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s intention to refuse to lift the flood water in Kaleshwaram, explaining that the Kannepalli pumps were operational when the water reached 93.5 meters, while the current river level is 97.5 meters, making the gate unnecessary.

The CM showed a “lack of understanding” of the design of the project as the former minister alleged at a press conference here on Sunday: “Farmers are asking for water, but the chief minister is talking about blood. Threatening to spill the blood of political opponents and beating them with belts is not what farmers want.”

He alleged that the Congress government is deliberately refusing to use the available Godavari waters only to continue its political campaign against the Kaleshwaram project. He said that BRS working president KT Rama Rao visited Medigadda and publicly demonstrated that there were sufficient flows in the Godavari against the government’s claims that there was no water in the river.

He pointed out that the government has also changed its attitude towards retired irrigation engineers. She had earlier termed them as experts, while now she allegedly threatened action after advising them to raise the available water.

Mr. Harish Rao claimed that the retired engineers never declared that Medigadda was technically unviable. Instead, they recommended diverting water through a series of barrages to Yellampalli, an opinion also submitted by the Justice Ghose Commission. Irrigation department officials have also informed the government that a temporary cofferdam at a cost of around ₹8.5 crore would allow immediate movement of water to Yellampalli, he noted.

He alleged that despite these technical recommendations, the government continued to keep the pumps idle as running the system would expose the Congress government’s disinformation campaign against the Kaleshwaram project. Instead of utilizing the available Godavari water through the Kannepalli, Devadula and Sitarama Lift Irrigation projects, the Congress government allowed the water to flow downstream for the benefit of Andhra Pradesh.

Published – 12 July 2026 21:45 IST