Telangana Govt Gets Ready to Counter BRS on Irrigation

Hyderabad: The government has readied an extensive presentation to expose the alleged negligence of the previous BRS regime in safeguarding Telangana's rightful share in Krishna and Godavari river waters during its decade-long rule.

The presentation is aimed at equipping ministers and ruling Congress MLAs and MLCs with detailed facts ahead of a scheduled debate on river water issues in the Legislative Assembly and Council on January 2.Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka will attend the presentation at Praja Bhavan on January 1, where irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy will make a detailed exposition at 4 pm.

Invitations have been sent to all ministers, Congress MLAs, MLCs, MPs and senior party leaders, asking them to attend without fail so that they can effectively counter allegations levelled by the opposition BRS during the Assembly debate.According to official sources, the presentation will focus on the alleged failure of the previous BRS government to create irrigation potential despite massive spending. It will point out that not even a single acre of irrigation potential was created under the Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme (PRLIS), even though about `27,000 crore was spent during the BRS tenure. In contrast, the Congress government claims to have spent `7,000 crore over the past two years on pending works under the scheme, including distributary canals.The presentation will also state that PRLIS did not receive statutory clearances during the previous BRS regime and that claims by BRS leaders, including former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and former minister T. Harish Rao, regarding acceptance of 45 tmc ft water usage for the project were misleading. The detailed project report (DPR) of PRLIS was returned by the Centre on April 12, 2023, when the BRS was in power.Another key point to be highlighted is that despite spending nearly `1.83 lakh crore on the irrigation sector, the BRS government failed to create fresh irrigation potential, with existing water supply largely dependent on projects executed during the undivided Andhra Pradesh period.

The Congress government also alleges that the previous BRS regime did not seek water allocation for PRLIS, the Dindi lift irrigation scheme and the Srisailam Left Bank Canal (SLBC) in the requisition submitted to the Centre in 2020. The presentation will reiterate Congress government's commitment to complete the SLBC project within the next three years.The presentation will accuse the earlier BRS government of failing to release funds required to complete Krishna basin projects and of cooperating with Andhra Pradesh’s Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme, which the present Congress government later stalled.

It will also flag financial mismanagement, by the BRS regime of taking loans of around `96,000 crore for irrigation projects at high interest rates, burdening state exchequer. Despite this, the Congress government has already repaid `49,000 crore and cleared `4,000 crore in pending dues related to irrigation works.

Through this presentation, the Congress government hopes to effectively counter BRS claims and allegations and project a comprehensive narrative on irrigation and river water sharing ahead of the crucial Assembly debate.