Harish Rao challenges Revanth Reddy to hand over irrigation department for three months
Hyderabad: Senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao challenged Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy to hand over the state’s irrigation department for three months. He said he would permanently retire from politics if he failed to operate the Kannepalli pumps, fill the designated reservoirs, and supply water to farmers.
Harish Rao issued the Harish Rao challenge during a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Friday. He backed his claims with official records and technical data while rejecting the Chief Minister’s criticism of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project.
The former Irrigation Minister accused the Congress government of spreading misinformation to hide failures in water management. He described the government’s handling of irrigation as “criminal negligence” despite abundant flows in the Godavari River.
According to Harish Rao, the government failed to operate heavy-duty motors even though enough water was available. As a result, he alleged, Godavari water flowed into the sea while farmers across Telangana struggled with drought-like conditions.
He claimed nearly one lakh cusecs of floodwater was flowing through the Godavari at the Sammakka Barrage. However, he said the government was lifting only 2,542 cusecs through the Devadula Lift Irrigation Scheme.
Harish Rao questioned why officials were not operating the pumps at full capacity. He argued that the water level at Sammakka Barrage remained well above the minimum level required to run the Devadula pumps.
Harish Rao challenge targets irrigation management
The BRS MLA said nearly 75 to 80 percent of tanks in the undivided Warangal district had dried up despite adequate Godavari inflows. He also questioned the silence of Congress ministers and MLAs from the region while farmers faced water shortages.
Furthermore, Harish Rao demanded a special Assembly discussion on the Sammakka Barrage and the state’s irrigation management. He also rejected Chief Minister Revanth Reddy’s claim that the Congress had secured approvals for the Tummidihatti project.
Recalling his tenure as Irrigation Minister, Harish Rao said Maharashtra never approved the project at 152 metres despite repeated discussions involving former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. He challenged Revanth Reddy to produce a single official letter confirming such approval.
“If Chief Minister Revanth Reddy can produce even a single official letter showing that Maharashtra approved the Tummidihatti project at 152 metres, I will immediately resign as MLA. Otherwise, Revanth Reddy should apologise to the people of Telangana for misleading them,” Harish Rao said.
The former minister also defended the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project. He said engineers designed the project only after detailed technical studies and noted that only two piers at Medigadda developed problems during the BRS government’s ten-year tenure.
Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government had spent nearly 31 months in office without completing technical tests or beginning repair work at Medigadda. Instead, he claimed the government allowed valuable Godavari water to go unused while farmers continued to face irrigation shortages.