Harish Rao Slams Govt Over Devadula Pump Neglect
“For the past ten days, water lifting has again been stopped, affecting irrigation in Jangaon, Palakurthi and Station Ghanpur constituencies. Officials are citing ‘repairs’ and ‘software issues’ as excuses, but the reality is gross negligence by the government”: T. Harish Rao
HYDERABAD: Senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao has demanded the immediate operation of the Devadula irrigation project’s pumps to protect standing crops in Warangal district, questioning why the facility remains idle despite sufficient flows in the Godavari River.
The former irrigation minister, who visited the Devadula pump house in Devannapeta, said the pumps must be started to provide irrigation to at least 3.5 lakh acres across Warangal, Jangaon and Palakurthi. He alleged that government negligence last year led to crops drying up in nearly 60,000 acres, causing heavy losses to farmers.
Harish Rao claimed that while the BRS government completed over 80 per cent of Devadula works and expanded ayacut to 3.17 lakh acres, the Congress government has not added a single new acre of irrigation in the past two and a half years.
He pointed out that nearly 3,000 cusecs of water from the Godavari is flowing into Sammakkasagar, yet the Devadula pump house remains unused. He recalled that on March 18, 2025, the irrigation minister and district minister had announced that the motors would be switched on, but left without ensuring their operation.
“For the past ten days, water lifting has again been stopped, affecting irrigation in Jangaon, Palakurthi and Station Ghanpur constituencies. Officials are citing ‘repairs’ and ‘software issues’ as excuses, but the reality is gross negligence by the government,” he said.