Hyderabad: Lashing out at the Irrigation Minister for refusing to start the Kannepalli pump house motors, BRS MLA Vemula Prashanth Reddy on Monday asserted that it was not the barrages sagging but rather the brain of Uttam Kumar Reddy.

The BRS leader stated: “When we ask him to switch on the motors and provide water to the fields, he questions whether to lift the water from the sagging barrage. It is not the barrage that is sagging, Uttam; it is your brain that is sagging. If a single pillar in Medigadda is sagging, it seems that your entire brain is sagging. Does the actual barrage have anything to do with turning on the motors, Uttam?” Prashanth Reddy alleged that Uttam was exposing his ignorance as the Minister of Irrigation.

Prashanth Reddy pointed out that the minimum drawing level of the Kannepalli pump house is 93.5 metres, but the water is currently flowing at a height of 96 metres. “We demanded that the Kannepalli pump house turn on the motors and lift the water. Instead of doing that, he is once again resorting to the same ‘mud politics’. When we ask for Godavari water to be diverted to farmers’ fields, they are releasing water to low-lying areas by providing excuses.” He challenged the Minister: “How is the record of 283 lakh metric tonnes of paddy harvested possible, Uttam?” Prashanth Reddy further questioned if the Congress had constructed a single project in its 19 months of rule, or a single check dam, or provided water to a single acre. He maintained that it is because of the Kaleshwaram project’s link system that reservoirs were filled, check dams overflowed, ponds became full, underground water levels increased, and water was provided to fields.