Hyderabad: Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday blamed the Telangana water crisis on El Niño and alleged irrigation failures under former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
Speaking to journalists in the Assembly lobbies, Uttam said the global climatic phenomenon had affected rainfall and water availability. At the same time, he blamed the previous BRS government for failing to complete key irrigation projects.
The minister alleged that the previous government had spent around ₹1.81 lakh crore on irrigation. However, he said several important projects remained incomplete despite the expenditure.
As a result, Uttam claimed those failures had made Telangana more vulnerable to water shortages. “Farmers in Telangana are facing difficulties because of two factors — El Niño and KCR,” he said.
Telangana water crisis and El Niño impact
Uttam explained that El Niño was a global climatic phenomenon linked to changing conditions in the Pacific Ocean. Therefore, he said neither the Telangana government nor conditions confined to the State had created the phenomenon.
According to the minister, the government had anticipated possible water stress. Consequently, it had repeatedly advised farmers to choose alternative crops where adequate water availability remained uncertain.
His remarks sought to distinguish the impact of global climatic conditions from the State’s irrigation infrastructure problems. However, Uttam held the previous BRS government responsible for increasing Telangana’s exposure to water stress. The minister also criticised the political discourse associated with former Chief Minister KCR.
“Before KCR, political leaders did not speak in this manner. What was then projected as heroism has today become part of political discourse,” Uttam said. He argued that the deterioration in political discourse had developed over time. Moreover, he said responsibility rested with those who had established such a precedent.
However, Uttam said his main criticism of the BRS concerned its irrigation record rather than the language used in politics. He alleged that the previous government had spent substantial public funds without completing several key irrigation projects. According to him, the unfinished projects contributed to the State’s vulnerability to water shortages.
Uttam maintained that both climatic conditions and previous irrigation failures had contributed to the difficulties faced by farmers. He specifically identified El Niño and the previous KCR government’s irrigation record as the two factors behind the Telangana water crisis.