HYDERABAD: The BRS has demanded that Godavari water be lifted immediately from the Kannepalli pump house of the Kaleshwaram project. At a press conference at Telangana Bhavan on Monday, MLA D. Sudheer Reddy and former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao alleged that Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy was keeping the pumps idle to deny former chief minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao credit, and that this had worsened the drought.
The BRS case
- Sudheer Reddy said about 20,000 cusecs was flowing to waste near Kannepalli and that nearly 2 TMC could be lifted.
- He claimed the government was using a National Dam Safety Authority report as an excuse, and that the NDSA had left the decision to fill and lift water to the state.
- He objected to police stopping BRS leaders from entering the pump house.
- Errabelli demanded that all affected mandals be declared drought-hit and that farmers get financial help.
The government's stand
Speaking at a farmers' fair at Hakimpet in Kodangal on Saturday, Revanth Reddy said lifting water from Kannepalli made no sense while the gates of the Annaram and Sundilla barrages were open. He said the pump house can operate only when 16 TMC is stored at Medigadda. Warning of El Niño, he said there would be no rain until next July and asked people to keep available water for drinking.
The Chief Minister has announced a special Assembly session in December on the Kaleshwaram project and the sharing of Krishna and Godavari waters; dates have not been fixed. The government had not responded to Monday's BRS allegations by late afternoon.
