BJP Delegation Visits Gottigaripalli Village to Study Watershed Development
A team of irrigation experts and BJP leaders visited Gottigaripalli village near Zaheerabad on Wednesday. The delegation included BJP MP and Parliamentary Board Member Dr. K. Laxman, Chevella MP Konda Vishweshwar Reddy, environmentalist Prof. K. Purushotham Reddy, public policy expert Dr. D. Narasimha Reddy, and others. They were there to examine the implementation of the late T. Hanumanth Rao’s “Four Waters” concept for watershed development.
Marri Shashidhar Reddy, Secretary of the Dr. M. Channa Reddy Memorial Trust, highlighted the organization’s efforts to raise awareness about Hanumanth Rao’s low-cost watershed development method. He expressed happiness that Dr. K. Laxman accepted their invitation to visit the village and understand the initiative. The trust has been advocating for this technology as a sustainable solution for water security.
Dr. Laxman, who had previously spoken about this concept in the Rajya Sabha during Zero Hour, showed a strong interest in the project. He emphasized its benefits, stating that the Four Waters concept is a cost-effective way to address irrigation and drinking water needs. Initially implemented in a few Telangana villages in 2001-2002 at a cost of just ₹5,000 per acre, the method has enabled farmers to grow three crops a year.
Despite its success, this low-cost approach has often been overlooked in favor of expensive irrigation projects costing ₹7-8 lakh per acre. Gottigaripalli village is an example of the impact such solutions can have. While Telangana largely ignored this model, the BJP government in Rajasthan implemented it extensively from 2014 to 2018, resulting in significant improvements in water availability.
The success of the Four Waters concept in Rajasthan brought about a transformation in the water sector. In villages where it was adopted, even landless and marginalized communities benefited. The availability of water allowed them to grow three crops annually, improving their livelihoods and promoting social justice.
