Hyderabad: Former minister T Harish Rao alleged that migrations from erstwhile Mahbubnagar district (Palamuru) have begun in the Congress rule as the state govt failed to provide water and power for agriculture sector. He alleged that nearly 40 Dalit families from a village in the CM’s home district had migrated to Karnataka in search of livelihood, blaming the situation on the govt’s failure to provide water and electricity for irrigation. He said projects such as Kalwakurthy, Nettampadu and Bheema were not being operated at full capacity, resulting in inadequate water supply to tail-end ayacut areas.Speaking at a media conference after visiting the families of two migrant labourers who died in Yadagir in Karnataka in Induvasi village in Gadwal district on Wednesday and paying financial assistance to the families, Harish Rao said CM A. Revanth Reddy had promised to restore the district’s past glory after becoming CM but the state govt had instead brought back the days of migration, claiming that farmers were suffering due to inadequate electricity, lack of irrigation water and shortage of employment opportunities.The BRS leader claimed that several villages in the district were facing severe power disruptions, with farmers complaining that they were not receiving even six to seven hours of quality electricity. According to BRS leaders, crops were drying up because of irregular power supply and low voltage, while transformers and agricultural pump sets were reportedly getting damaged.Rejecting the govt’s contention that El Niño conditions were responsible for the drought-like situation, BRS leaders argued that poor governance, coal shortages and mismanagement of irrigation resources were the real causes of the crisis. They termed the situation an “administrative failure” rather than a natural calamity.He accused the govt of failing to complete the remaining works of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme, which it claimed had been largely completed during the previous BRS regime. Had the project been finished, they said, the district would have been better protected from water scarcity.Demanding immediate intervention, Harish Rao urged the govt to provide round-the-clock power supply, ensure irrigation water for standing crops and announce an ex gratia of ₹10 lakh to the families of migrant workers who died in accidents. He warned that BRS would intensify its agitation in support of farmers and affected families if corrective measures were not taken immediately.ends/
