Uttam blasts BRS for historic water betrayal
Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy launched a blistering counterattack on the Bharat Rashtra Samithi on Friday, firmly rejecting BRS allegations that the Congress government had compromised the state’s water rights during inter-state discussions on issues pertaining to Krishna and Godavari river water sharing.
Reddy branded the BRS claims as baseless propaganda and repeated lies, accusing the previous BRS regime under former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao and former Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao of a historic betrayal of Telangana’s farmers.
He pointed out that the BRS had accepted an inequitable 299 TMC ft share in a 66:34 split of 811 TMC ft of Krishna waters post-bifurcation, describing the agreement as a shameful legacy sealed in Union Jal Shakti Ministry meetings with Harish Rao’s direct involvement, while also squandering nearly Rs 1.8 lakh crore on incomplete irrigation projects, including the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme and the Sitarama that delivered no meaningful new ayacut or even a single additional acre under key schemes.
Turning to the Godavari, Reddy highlighted the catastrophic collapse of the Medigadda Barrage under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, a project conceived, constructed and inaugurated entirely during BRS rule, which the National Dam Safety Authority’s 2025 report labelled the worst man-made disaster in India’s history.
Over five years, only 165 TMC ft of water was pumped, while massive volumes were released back to the sea. Additional losses occurred due to evaporation, leaving just 65–70 TMC available for actual use, resulting in negligible new irrigation.
The facts lay bare the hollowness of claims about creating significant new ayacut.
Reddy vowed that the Congress government, in office since December 7, 2023, would not yield even a single drop of Telangana’s rightful share and is aggressively pursuing the state’s entitlements through tribunals, courts and official talks to reclaim what was lost and expose the BRS’s decade of failures. In sharp contrast to the BRS-era compromises, the present administration is demanding approximately 70 per cent of Krishna waters, grounded in Telangana’s 68 per cent catchment area, and has been vigorously advancing this position before the Krishna River Management Board, the KWDT-II and the Supreme Court.
On Andhra Pradesh’s proposed Polavaram-Nallamala Sagar project, intended to divert 200 TMC ft of Godavari floodwaters annually to Krishna basin areas, including Rayalaseema, Reddy reiterated the state’s strong opposition, arguing that it violates the Andhra Pradesh Reorganisation Act 2014 and tribunal awards. Written assurances were received even from Union Minister CR Patil and the Central Water Commission confirming that no approvals have been granted.
