Govt. blaming nature and El Nino for its failures, alleges Harish Rao

BRS leader T. Harish Rao showing CWC data on Krishna water use by Telangana and Andhra Pradesh since 2014-15, during a press conference in Hyderabad, on Saturday. HYDERABADDeputy Floor Leader of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) in the Assembly T. Harish Rao has alleged that the Congress government has conveniently pushed its failures on the irrigation and energy fronts onto the nature and El Nino, and blamed the ruling party for the drought conditions.Despite availing the lowest ever quantity of water in the Krishna Basin since formation of Telangana State, Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy lied in the Assembly on Friday claiming that the State had so far availed 84 tmc ft water, though the actual utilisation was only 8 tmc ft, Mr. Rao said addressing a press conference here on Saturday.He sought to know from the Irrigation Minister as to where (reservoirs or tanks) he had filled and how much ayacut was irrigated by drawing 84 tmc ft water from Srisailam, when the fact remained that only 8 tmc ft water was lifted from it for Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme.Referring to the Minister’s claim that a record 286 tmc ft Krishna water was utilised in 2024-25, he said the reality was something else as only 28.49% of available water was availed as per the Central Water Commission (CWC) data as Andhra Pradesh had drawn 718 tmc ft (71.51%) of the total available 1,004 tmc ft water. He stated that it was even less in 2025-26 at 25.77% of the available 1,039 tmc ft.Turning to the Godavari Basin, the BRS leader said the Central Water Power Research Station (CWPRS) Pune’s recent report had made it clear that except Block-7 of the Medigadda Barrage of Kaleshwaram Project other blocks were safe. He stated that the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) too had told the High Court that the State Government could take a decision on lifting water.However, the government was not lifting water, again with the fear that it would get a good name for the previous government, though about 4 tmc ft water was passing through Medigadda Barrage. He reiterated that 2 tmc ft water could be lifted from the barrage without downing/closing the gates as 93.5 meters level was enough for the purpose, against the present level of 96 meters.On the energy front, he alleged that the government was not operating Kothagudem, Bhadradri and Yadadri power plants to their capacity for want of coal and other technical reasons, while farmers were taking to streets demanding supply of power at least for 16 hours a day if not round-the-clock.Justifying the cost escalation of Kaleshwaram Project, Mr. Harish Rao attributed it to increase of lifting from 1.8 tmc ft a day (Pranahita-Chevella) to 3 tmc ft a day, water storage facilities from 16 tmc ft to 141 tmc ft and utilisation from 160 tmc ft to 240 tmc ft. He pointed out that the cost of Kodangal-Narayanpet Lift was escalated from ₹1,450 crore to ₹6,825 crore without any change in extent of ayacut. Published - September 19, 2026 08:40 pm IST