Hyderabad: BRS MLA Harish Rao has come out all guns blazing against the Congress, accusing it of spreading baseless propaganda to discredit the Kaleshwaram project, which he called a “boon to farmers” and a “lifeline for Telangana agriculture.”
Speaking at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao launched a detailed PowerPoint presentation to set the record straight on the irrigation benefits of the Kaleshwaram project and to rebut allegations that the project had failed to deliver water to farmers. “Congress leaders have been falsely claiming that not a single acre got water from Kaleshwaram,” he said. “But the truth is different—this project has already provided direct irrigation to 98,570 acres of new ayacut.”
Harish Rao went on to explain that the project’s canals have filled 456 minor irrigation tanks, benefiting an additional 39,146 acres. Besides that, he said, Kaleshwaram water had stabilised 17,08,000 acres under the SRSP Stage 1, SRSP Stage 2, and Nizamsagar projects. “We even used Kaleshwaram water through the Kudelli and Haldi streams, feeding 66 check dams to irrigate another 20,576 acres,” he noted.
Dismissing the Congress’s accusations as a political stunt, Harish Rao said, “Revanth Reddy, Uttam Kumar Reddy, and others are throwing around random numbers—50,000 acres, one lakh acres—without any factual basis. Every drop of water we’ve delivered is backed by official irrigation reports.”
He also took a dig at the Congress’s handling of Godavari river water usage before Telangana’s formation. “Between 2007 and 2014, despite having their governments in Delhi, Maharashtra, and Andhra Pradesh, they couldn’t get a single permission from the Centre for the Pranahita-Chevella project,” he said. “That project had a meagre storage capacity of just 11 TMC, whereas Kaleshwaram can store 141 TMC—look at the difference.”
Highlighting the Congress’s financial mismanagement, Harish Rao cited the Comptroller and Auditor General’s report that revealed ₹1,052 crore had been paid out as mobilisation advances by the Congress government without any actual work. “They gave away ₹2,328 crore to contractors in the name of surveys and advances, but not a single clod of earth was moved,” he thundered.
Taking a swipe at Congress leaders who served as ministers during that time, Harish Rao named Komatireddy, Uttam Kumar Reddy, and Sridhar Babu. He didn’t spare Revanth Reddy either, recalling that Revanth once dubbed the Congress’s schemes as “money schemes, not water schemes” when he was in the TDP. “Today, the same Revanth Reddy is trying to shield Congress’s corruption,” he added.
Harish Rao addressed concerns over the Medigadda barrage, where two piers had sunk, by clarifying that such incidents did not equate to the entire project’s collapse. “Some are saying that if two pillars sink, the whole Kaleshwaram project is gone—this is a lie,” he said.
The BRS leader elaborated on the project’s technical details: “Kaleshwaram has 3 barrages, 15 reservoirs, 21 pump houses, 203 km of tunnels, 1,531 km of gravity canals, 98 km of pressurised mains, and a massive 141 TMC storage capacity. We lift water to a height of 530 metres—this is no small feat.” He added that Medigadda was chosen over Tummidihatti because of the latter’s inadequate water availability, ensuring that the state had a reliable water supply even in drought years.
He said the project’s design ensured that, even during water scarcity, water could be reverse-pumped from Mid Manair to SRSP and other key reservoirs. He also outlined how water lifted from Medigadda reached Annapurna, Ranganayak Sagar, Mallanna Sagar, and Kondapochamma Sagar, helping crops flourish across vast areas.
Harish Rao said the project had stabilised agriculture in lands that had long suffered from drought. “Our farmers are harvesting crops in the rabi season too, thanks to Kaleshwaram,” he said. “Congress leaders are crying about project costs, but let’s not forget: in 2007 they issued a GO fixing the project cost at ₹17,875 crore. By 2011, before even a stone was laid, they themselves raised it to ₹38,500 crore, and later ₹40,300 crore when sending it to the Centre. Who’s fooling whom here?”
కాళేశ్వరం ప్రాజెక్టు అంటే..
* 3 బ్యారేజీలు
* 15 రిజర్వాయర్లు
* 19 సబ్ స్టేషన్లు
* 21 పంప్ హౌజులు
* 203 కిలోమీటర్ల సొరంగాలు
* 1531 కిలోమీటర్ల గ్రావిటీ కెనాల్స్
* 98 కిలోమీటర్ల ప్రెజర్ మెయిన్స్
* 141 టిఎంసీల స్టోరేజ్ కెపాసిటీ
* 530 మీటర్ల ఎత్తుకు లిఫ్ట్
* 240 టిఎంసీల నీటి… pic.twitter.com/bei5DST81A— BRS Party (@BRSparty) June 7, 2025
The MLA warned that the Congress and the BJP were working hand in glove to stifle Telangana’s progress. “They want to stoke baseless fears for political mileage,” he said. Harish Rao made it clear that the BRS had nothing to hide and would face any inquiry by the Kaleshwaram Commission head-on. “We are not afraid of any investigation. We have all the facts on our side,” he declared.
He concluded, “We gave water where there was none. We gave hope where there was despair. And we will not allow these political games to rob our farmers of their rights.”
