Minister for Irrigation Uttam Kumar Reddy
| Photo Credit: handout
Minister for Irrigation N. Uttam Kumar Reddy accused colossal mismanagement in the Irrigation sector by the earlier goverrnment led by Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS), which has left behind incomplete reservoirs and lift irrigation schemes, depriving Telangana of its rightful Krishna Basin share.
In a statement here, he said that despite spending a staggering ₹1.81 lakh crore, the BRS government failed to complete crucial projects, leaving 103 TMCft of water storage capacity unutilised in Nalgonda and Mahabubnagar districts.
“Where did all this money go? Why are reservoirs still incomplete? Their inefficiency and corruption have led to this mess,” he said, assuring that the Congress government would clean up the damage and deliver results.
He said among the biggest failures of the BRS regime is the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), which has the potential to store 67.52 TMCft but remains non-operational. The key reservoirs under PRLIS, still awaiting completion, include — Anjanagiri Reservoir: 6.40 TMCft, Veernam Palli Reservoir: 6.55 TMCft, Venkatadri Reservoir: 16.74 TMCft, Kurumurthyraya Reservoir: 19.00 TMCft, Udandapur Reservoir: 16.03 TMCft and KP Laxmidevipally Reservoir: 2.80 TMCft.
The Srisailam Right Bank Dindi Lift Irrigation Scheme (SRVR Dindi LIS) has 25.64 TMCft of potential storage, but instead of completing it, the BRS government sat on the project while making false promises. The incomplete reservoirs under this scheme include Pothireddy Palli: 0.225 TMCft, Singarajpally Reservoir (Offline): 0.81 TMCft, Gottimukala Reservoir (Offline): 1.839 TMCft, Irwin Reservoir (Online): 0.553 TMCft, Yerrapalli-Gokavaram Reservoir (Online): 7.182 TMCft, Dindi Reservoir (Existing): 2.468 TMCft, Thintapally Reservoir (Offline): 0.91 TMCft, Kistarampally Balancing Reservoir (Online): 5.686 TMCft and Shivannagudem Balancing Reservoir (Online): 11.968 TMCft.
Additionally, the AMRSLBC project, which could add 9.848 TMCft to Telangana’s irrigation potential, was also neglected. This includes Dindi Balancing Reservoir: 7.648 TMCft and Pendlipakala Balancing Reservoir: 2.200 TMCft.
Published – February 21, 2025 09:51 pm IST
