Former Minister Vemula Prashanth Reddy Demands Immediate Operation of Kaleshwaram Pumps to Save Farmers
Nizamabad/Morthad: Former Minister and Balkonda MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy urged the Telangana government to immediately activate the Kannepalli Pump House and lift water from the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project to fill reservoirs and provide irrigation to farmers facing severe drought conditions.
Addressing a press conference at Morthad on Sunday, Prashanth Reddy alleged that the Congress government was neglecting the Kaleshwaram project due to political rivalry with former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao, thereby hurting Telangana’s farming community.
He said the impact of El Niño had resulted in poor rainfall this year, leaving more than 30 percent of agricultural land unsown. He pointed out that the SRSP (Sri Ram Sagar Project) currently holds only about 15 TMC of water with an inflow of just 1,100 cusecs, creating a serious irrigation crisis for farmers in Nizamabad, Balkonda, Armoor, Bodhan and surrounding regions.
Prashanth Reddy claimed that nearly one lakh cusecs of Godavari water is currently flowing through the Pranahita River towards Medigadda and eventually into the sea, despite the availability of infrastructure to lift the water for irrigation.
He alleged that although only two pillars of the Medigadda Barrage had subsided, the Congress government had portrayed the entire Kaleshwaram project as defunct. According to him, L&T had offered to repair the damaged structure at its own cost under the defect liability period, but the government had not granted permission.
The former minister accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy of refusing to utilize Kaleshwaram because the credit would go to KCR. He further alleged that water was being allowed to flow towards Andhra Pradesh while Telangana farmers were suffering.
Prashanth Reddy also criticized the police for stopping K. T. Rama Rao and other BRS leaders from visiting Medigadda to demonstrate that large quantities of water were being wasted.
He maintained that water could be lifted even without depending on the Medigadda Barrage gates by operating the Kannepalli Pump House, pumping water through Annaram, Sundilla, and Yellampalli, and then using reverse pumping to fill SRSP. This, he said, would provide irrigation to large parts of North Telangana, including nearly 70 percent of villages in Balkonda constituency.
Prashanth Reddy rejected Congress allegations that the entire Kaleshwaram project had failed, stating that it consists of three barrages, 15 reservoirs with 140 TMC storage capacity, 21 pump houses, 19 substations, over 200 km of tunnels and nearly 1,500 km of canals. He said the project was built at a cost of approximately ₹94,000 crore, while the damaged Medigadda Barrage itself was worth around ₹4,000 crore, and only two pillars requiring repairs worth nearly ₹400 crore had developed issues.
He urged the government to immediately start the Kannepalli, Annaram, Sundilla, Yellampalli, Reverse Pumping and Package-21 pumps to ensure irrigation for farmers.
Prashanth Reddy warned that if the government failed to activate the pump houses immediately, the BRS, along with farmers, would launch an agitation and would themselves press the pump buttons to release water for irrigation. He appealed to farmers across Telangana to join the movement demanding immediate utilization of the Kaleshwaram project.
