Hyderabad (Telangana) [India], July 9 (ANI): Telangana Irrigation, Food and Civil Supplies Minister Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday mentioned the Congress authorities in Telangana would stick with its authorized, technical, and administrative battle to reclaim the state’s rightful share of Krishna river waters.
He accused the earlier BRS regime of betraying Telangana’s long-term pursuits by compromising with Andhra Pradesh, permitting large-scale water diversion, engineering failures, and monetary mismanagement.
According to a press release, the Minister delivered two detailed PowerPoint shows at Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan – one on the unlawful diversion of Krishna River waters to Andhra Pradesh and the opposite on the disastrous penalties of relocating the initially sanctioned Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi (PCSS) mission to Medigadda beneath the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme.
The first presentation highlighted how the BRS regime, throughout its 10-year rule from 2014 to 2023, failed to guard Telangana’s entitlement to Krishna waters and even facilitated unlawful infrastructure improvement by Andhra Pradesh to divert water from the Srisailam reservoir. Uttam Kumar Reddy mentioned Andhra Pradesh’s diversion of Krishna water to outside-basin areas surged from 245.3 TMC between 2004-05 and 2014 to 1,192.44 TMC between 2014-15 and 2023-24, because of the growth of the Muchumarri Lift Irrigation Scheme and the creation of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS).
‘These tasks enhanced AP’s drawal capability from the Srisailam reservoir to 11 TMC per day.’ He identified that these works have been undertaken with out Central Water Commission (CWC) clearance or Apex Council approval, in clear violation of the AP Reorganisation Act. Despite being totally conscious, the BRS authorities failed to boost objections with the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) or the Union Jal Shakti Ministry, thus compromising Telangana’s rightful share.
He acknowledged that the earlier Telangana authorities accepted unjust water-sharing ratios, initially agreeing to a 299:512 TMC system in 2015 and later to a 34:66 ratio in 2017-18, which remained in impact till 2020. He alleged that the BRS authorities even wrote to KRMB stating that the 34:66 system ought to proceed ‘since no different foundation exists.’
The Congress authorities, Uttam Reddy mentioned, has now formally rejected that stance.
He referred to a letter written by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to the Union Jal Shakti Minister on March 3, 2025, demanding a reversal of the unfair ratio and reinforcing Telangana’s demand for a 71% share–575 TMC out of the 811 TMC initially allotted to undivided Andhra Pradesh, primarily based on basin parameters like catchment space, inhabitants, drought-prone space, and cultivable land. Final arguments beneath Section 3 of the ISRWD Act, 1956, are underway earlier than the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II), and the Congress authorities has determined to again its claims with robust technical and authorized proof.
Uttam Kumar Reddy additional added that Andhra Pradesh was capable of enhance its withdrawal capability by means of unauthorised growth of Muchumarri LIS from 0.85 TMC/day to three TMC/day by including 9 pumps, and RLIS from 3 TMC/day to eight TMC/day, once more by putting in 9 pumps, taking whole drawal capability to 11 TMC/day. These expansions enabled AP to attract water far past its share, and the BRS authorities’s silence allowed these violations to turn into operational realities. He additionally reminded that Andhra Pradesh had taken up different unauthorised tasks like Telugu Ganga, GNSS, HNSS, and Veligonda after the 1976 KWDT-I award, whereas Telangana’s tasks remained uncared for.
He mentioned that the BRS regime performed a complicit position in permitting AP to proceed with RLIS tenders by intentionally stalling the Apex Council assembly proposed by the Centre in October 2020. Instead of attending the assembly and elevating objections, the then Telangana authorities raised procedural hurdles and delayed its participation, making a window of alternative for Andhra Pradesh, which issued RLIS tenders on October 5, 2020. By the time Telangana responded, Andhra had already secured administrative and technical momentum, which the BRS did not problem, additional weakening Telangana’s authorized case.
The Congress authorities, Uttam mentioned, has submitted project-specific allocations to the Tribunal. These embrace 90 TMC for Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), 50 TMC for Kalwakurthy LIS, 40 TMC every for Nettempadu LIS and SLBC, 20 TMC for Bhima LIS, and 15 TMC for Dindi LIS. These tasks are very important for Telangana’s drought-prone and fluoride-affected areas, and their allocations had been left pending because of the BRS authorities’s failure. To guarantee accountability and transparency, the Congress authorities has already launched funds for telemetry methods to observe water withdrawals in real-time and has re-initiated the method of securing CWC approvals.
Turning to the Kaleshwaram situation, the Minister launched a scathing critique of the BRS resolution to desert the PCSS mission and as an alternative take up the Kaleshwaram mission.
He mentioned that the unique PCSS mission had acquired in-principle approval from the CWC, with assured water availability of 165 TMC at 75 % dependability. It was designed to irrigate 16.4 lakh acres throughout seven districts by means of a gravity-lift mixture with modest energy necessities. By 2014, Rs 11,679 crore had already been spent, and the mission was eligible for 80 % Central help beneath the AIBP scheme. Public hearings had been held, statutory clearances secured, and even KCR had written to the Centre searching for nationwide mission standing.
Uttam Kumar Reddy mentioned that regardless of the mission not being totally operational, the Congress authorities has achieved report Yasangi crop manufacturing, indicating that environment friendly administration can yield tangible outcomes even from poorly designed property. He added that the federal government will rehabilitate the Kaleshwaram mission with a constructive mindset, following NDSA suggestions and in session with CWC-vetted engineers. The authorities has determined to revamp the barrages, implement dam security norms strictly, and be sure that no water is saved in structurally unsound constructions, as this might endanger 44 villages and even Bhadrachalam city.
He asserted that the choice to shift from Tummidihatti to Medigadda was taken with none logical or rational foundation, and the explanations given by the BRS management didn’t stand up to scrutiny. ‘The NDSA is a recognised nationwide authority of consultants. Their recommendation is extra credible than any political assertion made by former Ministers like Harish Rao,’ he mentioned.
He added that inefficiency, negligence, and corruption have been the hallmarks of the BRS authorities’s irrigation selections.
Uttam Kumar Reddy mentioned, ‘Instead of strengthening a ready-to-go mission with central help, the BRS authorities created a white elephant. Telangana is now paying the value for that disastrous resolution. But this authorities is dedicated to rebuilding what they destroyed.’ He additionally condemned BRS leaders for operating what he referred to as a ‘Goebbels-style propaganda marketing campaign’ towards the Congress authorities, regardless of being immediately accountable for Telangana’s irrigation and monetary disaster.
‘This isn’t just a technical or authorized matter,’ he mentioned. ‘It is a battle for justice-for Telangana’s farmers, its economic system, and its future.’ (ANI)