Jagadish Reddy Demands Halt to Krishna Water Diversion at Telangana Bhavan

Former Minister and BRS MLA G Jagadish Reddy accused the Congress government of failing to safeguard Telangana’s water interests during a press conference at Telangana Bhavan in Hyderabad on Wednesday. Reddy criticized Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and his administration for remaining silent and failing to raise objections while Andhra Pradesh diverted Krishna River water.

Speaking to reporters, Jagadish Reddy questioned the diversion of 25,000 cusecs of water through the Pothireddypadu project in Andhra Pradesh and demanded to know who authorized the release from the Srisailam project. He demanded that all water diversion to Pothireddypadu be halted immediately until the Nagarjuna Sagar project in Telangana is filled. He pointed out that while Andhra Pradesh was taking water, Nagarjuna Sagar was receiving little to no water, leaving Telangana facing serious concerns over drinking water supply.

The BRS leader noted that despite substantial inflows into the Krishna River, the state government had failed to provide irrigation water to local farmers. He contrasted the current situation with the previous administration under K Chandrashekhar Rao, reminding that water was successfully supplied to 10 to 12 lakh acres of ayacut above Srisailam. Under the present government, however, he alleged that not even a single acre has been irrigated in the Palamuru region. He also rejected government suggestions for farmers to shift to short-duration crops, emphasizing that even those crops require assured irrigation.

Regarding the Godavari River, Jagadish Reddy stated that the BRS had been raising the water issue for two months without receiving any response from the state government. He demanded that the government boycott the Godavari River Management Board meeting if the agenda involves reviewing seven Telangana projects, noting that these projects have already received Technical Advisory Committee approvals. He questioned Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on the matter and criticized the administration for performing Varuna Yagam, asserting that rituals were no substitute for taking concrete action to secure irrigation water when it was available. He affirmed that the BRS would continue its fight for the state's water rights under the leadership of K Chandrashekhar Rao.