Hyderabad: Urging the govt to set aside political differences and immediately operate the Kannepalli and Devadula lift irrigation schemes to protect farmers, BRS deputy floor leader T Harish Rao on Sunday accused chief minister A Revanth Reddy of neglecting Telangana’s irrigation needs despite adequate water availability in the Godavari.“I am prepared to face arrest or any action if that satisfies the chief minister. But do not sacrifice Telangana’s farmers for political ego. Turn on the pumps immediately and protect the standing crops,” Harish Rao said at a news conference at Telangana Bhavan.The former irrigation minister alleged that the Congress govt was refusing to utilise available Godavari waters through the Kaleshwaram project to sustain its political campaign against the scheme.“Farmers are asking for water, but the CM is talking about blood. Such language has no place in democracy,” Harish Rao said, referring to the chief minister’s recent remarks against political opponents.Harish Rao claimed that BRS working president KT Rama Rao’s recent visit to Medigadda had exposed the govt’s contention that there was insufficient water in the river. He said the Kannepalli pumps could operate once the water level reached 93.5 metres and that the current level of 97.5 metres was sufficient to begin lifting operations without closing barrage gates.He alleged that retired irrigation engineers had also recommended lifting water to Yellampalli through a temporary cofferdam estimated to cost ₹8.5 crore.Warning of serious consequences if the pumps remained idle, Harish Rao said Yellampalli reservoir currently held only 4-5 tmcft of usable water after accounting for dead storage, even as it had to meet drinking water, industrial and power-generation needs.Defending the Kaleshwaram project, Harish Rao rejected allegations of large-scale corruption and disputed Revanth’s claim that ₹1 lakh crore had been spent on the scheme. According to him, the total expenditure stood at around ₹87,000 crore, most of which was invested in reservoirs, canals, tunnels and pump houses that continued to function.
