Govt. Harish Rao blames nature and El Nino for his failures

BRS leader T. Harish Rao shows CWC data on Krishna water use by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since 2014-15 at a press conference in Hyderabad on Saturday.

HYDERABAD

Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) floor leader in the Assembly T. Harish Rao claimed that the Congress government had conveniently shifted its failures on the irrigation and energy fronts to nature and El Nino and blamed the ruling party for the drought conditions.

Despite using the lowest ever amount of water in the Krishna basin since the formation of Telangana state, Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Friday lied to the assembly and claimed that the state had used 84 tmc ft of water so far, although the actual use was only 8 tmc ft, Mr. Rao said at a press conference here on Saturday.

He sought to know from the Irrigation Minister where (reservoir or tanks) he filled and how many ayacuts were irrigated by drawing 84 tmc ft of water from Srisailam when the fact remained that only 8 tmc ft of water was withdrawn from it for the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme.

Referring to the minister’s claim that a record 286 tmc ft of Krishna water had been tapped in 2024-25, he said the reality was different as only 28.49% of the available water was tapped as per Central Water Commission (CWC) data as Andhra Pradesh drew 718 tmc ft. It said that in 2025-26 it was even less to 25.77% of the available 1,039 tmc ft.

Regarding the Godavari basin, the BRS leader said that a recent report by the Central Hydropower Research Station (CWPRS) Pune has clearly shown that apart from block 7 of the Medigadda barrage in the Kaleshwaram project, the other blocks are safe. He said the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) had also told the Supreme Court that the state government could decide on raising water.

However, the government was not lifting water, again fearing to get a good name for the previous government, although about 4 tmc ft of water was passing through the Medigadda barrage. He reiterated that 2 tmc ft of water can be lifted from the barrage without shooting down/closing the gates as a level of 93.5 meters was sufficient for the purpose, against the current level of 96 meters.

On the power front, he alleged that the government is not running the Kothagudem, Bhadradri and Yadadri power plants at their capacity due to shortage of coal and other technical reasons, while farmers are taking to the streets demanding power supply for at least 16 hours a day, if not continuously.

Mr. Harish Rao justified the increase in the cost of the Kaleshwaram project, attributing it to the increase in lift from 1.8 tmc ft per day (Pranahita-Chevella) to 3 tmc ft per day, water reservoirs from 16 tmc ft to 141 tmc ft to 10 tmc ft and utilization from 10 tmc ft per day, pointing out that the cost of Kodangal-Narayanpet Lift has escalated from ₹ 1,450 crore to ₹ 6 ₹ 825 crore without any change in the extent of ayacut.

Published – 19 Sep 2026 20:40 IST