KT Rama Rao Threatens Siege of Kannepalli Pump House Over Telangana Water Crisis

On Sunday, Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) working president KT Rama Rao accused the Congress-led Telangana government of worsening the state's water crisis by refusing to operate the Kannepalli pump house of the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme. Speaking after inspecting the Kannepalli pump house, Rama Rao warned that the BRS would mobilize 50,000 farmers to lay siege to the facility and operate the pumps themselves if the government failed to act immediately.

The opposition leader blamed Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy personally for the emerging water crisis amid prevailing drought conditions and El Niño threats. He alleged that the state government is deliberately neglecting the Kaleshwaram project to discredit it, rather than safeguarding the interests of local farmers whose standing crops are endangered.

According to Rama Rao, official river flow data indicates that nearly one lakh cusecs of Godavari river water is currently flowing downstream without being utilized. He stated that the Kannepalli pump house has the capacity to lift nearly two TMCft of water daily. This operation, he asserted, does not depend on the damaged Medigadda barrage because sufficient water levels are available to run the pumping system.

The BRS working president argued that immediate pumping of the Godavari waters could replenish major reservoirs, secure drinking water, and provide irrigation to lakhs of acres of land. He noted that 26 of Telangana's 33 districts have already recorded deficit rainfall, with drought conditions visible across much of the state. He accused the government of failing to prepare despite multiple weather advisories.

Defending the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, Rama Rao described it as a massive infrastructure project comprising three barrages, 21 pump houses, 15 reservoirs, 19 substations, and extensive tunnels with a storage capacity of about 141 TMCft. He dismissed criticism centered on the Medigadda barrage, stating that the entire project should not be abandoned due to issues at a single location. He also alleged that maintenance of the pumping infrastructure had been neglected for the past two years.

Rama Rao further charged the Congress government with avoiding irrigation releases to escape the financial burden of fertilizer supply, crop procurement, and bonus payments to farmers. He challenged Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to hand over the Kaleshwaram project to former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao for one week, claiming that the BRS founder would restore the water supply across Telangana within days.

He called on farmers to visit Kannepalli to witness the situation firsthand, reiterating that the BRS will continue its agitation until the pumps are switched on.