Uttam vows to secure fair share of Krishna waters for Telangana

Hyderabad: State Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Capt N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday vowed that the Congress government would fight to secure a fair share of Krishna river waters for Telangana, correcting what he called a “historic betrayal” by the previous BRS regime.

“The BRS government surrendered Telangana’s rights by accepting just 299 tmcft out of the total 811 tmcft Krishna river allocation, leaving 512 tmcft to Andhra Pradesh – and that too in writing. It was not a negotiation; it was a sellout,” Uttam said.

He declared that the Congress government has reversed this approach and is now firmly defending Telangana’s claims. “We have reopened the issue before the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal and are demanding a 70:30 ratio – 70 per cent for Telangana and 30 per cent for Andhra Pradesh – based on catchment area, cultivable land, drought-prone zones and population,” he said.

Uttam Kumar Reddy added that he is the only Irrigation Minister in the country to personally attend the state’s case in the water tribunal. “Our government is committed to correcting every wrong committed by the BRS,” he said. He said the goal is to green the drought-hit districts of the former Mahbubnagar, Nalgonda, and Khammam regions by fully utilising Krishna waters through targeted irrigation projects.

Rs 62,000 crore wasted on Kaleshwaram Slamming the BRS government’s irrigation legacy, Uttam called the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project a historic blunder that drained Rs 1 lakh crore from the state exchequer while neglecting the real irrigation needs of Telangana.

“If the previous government had stuck to the original Pranahita-Chevella project designed by the Congress at an estimated cost of Rs 38,000 crore, Telangana could’ve completed at least 10 major irrigation projects. Instead, Rs 62,000 crore was wasted on a single project that ended in structural failure and financial disaster,” he said.

He accused the BRS of dismantling the Pranahita-Chevella blueprint prepared under former Chief Minister Dr Y S Rajasekhara Reddy, which aimed to bring both Krishna and Godavari waters to the state in an efficient, cost-effective manner. “They abandoned that vision and built Kaleshwaram at Medigadda for political optics. The result? Three collapsed barrages and no benefit to farmers,” he said.

Uttam alleged that Kaleshwaram became a vehicle for massive corruption. “This wasn’t irrigation; it was inflation. A Rs 38,000 crore plan was inflated to Rs 1 lakh crore. Now we are left with a non-functional project and irreversible financial loss,” he said.