Devadula delay sparking man-made agrarian crisis, alleges Harish

Alleging that the state government deliberately did not lift water from Devadula only to divert it to Andhra Pradesh, BRSLP deputy leader Harish Rao on Friday demanded the immediate operation of Devadula pumps to save Warangal crops.

The leader accused the Congress government of causing severe hardship to farmers in the district despite sufficient flow in the Godavari river. After inspecting the Devannapeta pump house, part of the Devadula lift irrigation project, Harish Rao told the media that all three motors at the site were shut even though adequate water was available. He noted that nearly 16,000 cusecs of water was flowing near Sammakka Sagar today, but the government had failed to lift it for irrigation.

Harish Rao recalled that on 18 March 2025, the Irrigation Minister and the district minister announced that the motors would be switched on but left without ensuring they actually functioned. Due to the non-operation of pumps last year, crops in nearly 60,000 acres dried up. For the past ten days, water lifting has again been stopped, affecting irrigation in Jangaon, Palakurthi, and Station Ghanpur. He also stated that the Gandiramaram lift has stopped due to a lack of water. Officials are citing repairs and software issues as excuses, but the reality is gross negligence. He pointed out that the third phase of the project, including the 49.5 kilometre tunnel from Ramappa to Unikicherla, was completed under the BRS government.

The Devannapeta pump house, built at a depth of 155 metres, is among the deepest in the world. The previous government spent around Rs 7,300 crore on the Devadula project and completed more than 80 per cent of the works, expanding coverage from 47,000 acres to over 3.17 lakh acres. Harish Rao alleged that in the last two and a half years, the Congress government has not added even one acre of new ayacut and failed to operate existing motors. Maintenance funds of about Rs 8 crore were not released to contractors last year, resulting in idle pumps and crop losses estimated between Rs 700 crore and Rs 800 crore.

Only after protests were the funds released, but by then farmers had already suffered heavy losses. The government must stop making excuses and start the Devadula motors immediately to save the standing crops, Harish Rao demanded. He emphasised that the current water management is failing the farming community while valuable river water is being allowed to flow away unnecessarily. The lack of political will to maintain high-tech infrastructure is leading to a man-made agricultural crisis in the heart of Telangana.