Hyderabad: Former minister T Harish Rao demanded the Congress govt to stop political vendetta against Kaleshwaram project and immediately operate the Kannepalli pump house and fill Yellampalli, Annapurna reservoir, Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar and all other reservoirs by fully utilising available Godavari waters. He accused the Congress govt of deliberately allowing Telangana’s Godavari waters to flow into AP while farmers across the state suffer due to water scarcity.Harish Rao alleged that the state govt was attempting to cover up its failure to lift irrigation water from Kannepalli through misinformation and false propaganda against the Kaleshwaram project and the BRS.Addressing a news conference on Friday, the ex-minister said Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla barrages withstood floods of nearly 28 lakh cusecs in the past, and questioned why the govt was now attempting to create fear when the present flood flow was only about one lakh cusecs. He said the govt had ignored repeated recommendations made by retired irrigation engineers regarding optimal utilisation of available Godavari waters.He said despite El Nino conditions and drought warnings, Godavari continues to carry substantial inflows in Telangana. However, instead of storing this water in reservoirs, he said the Congress govt is allowing it to flow into AP, causing irreparable damage to Telangana farmers.Drawing a comparison with AP, Harish Rao said the neighbouring state had already utilised more than 60 tmcft of Godavari water through Pattiseema, Tadipudi, Purushothapatnam and Pushkara Lift Irrigation Schemes by operating its pumping systems continuously.While AP has been operating all 24 Pattiseema pumps around the clock, Telangana has kept its high-capacity Bahubali pumps idle despite having sufficient water availability, he alleged.
