Telangana’s Water Rights Under Threat, Says Harish Rao
Telangana’s water rights are at serious risk, said senior BRS leader T Harish Rao on Friday, as he criticized the inaction of Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy. Speaking at a press conference at Telangana Bhavan, Harish Rao expressed concern over the government’s failure to address the issue.
Harish Rao reminded everyone that the Telangana movement was built on the principles of “Neellu, Nidhulu, Niyamakalu” (water, funds, and employment). However, he pointed out that the state was now being denied its rightful share of water, and the government was doing little to stop this. He specifically blamed the Chief Minister, the Irrigation Minister, and officials for their negligence, stating that despite Andhra Pradesh’s swift progress on illegal water projects, Telangana has not even sent an official letter to stop these activities.
Reports show that Andhra Pradesh is taking large-scale steps to divert the Godavari River’s waters. Additionally, both Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka are building new projects on the Tungabhadra River to divert significant amounts of water. Andhra Pradesh has also tripled the capacity of the Polavaram Right Canal, allowing it to transfer 200 TMC of water from the Godavari to the Penna Basin without obtaining necessary approvals.
At the same time, Telangana’s major projects, such as Sitarama Sagar, Sammakka Sagar, the third TMC allocation of Kaleshwaram, and Ambedkar Varada, remain incomplete. Harish Rao blamed the previous Congress government for failing to secure clearances for these projects during its tenure. Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh is moving ahead with projects without approvals from the Central Water Commission, interstate bodies, or the Godavari and Krishna River Management Boards, as required by the AP Reorganisation Act.
Harish Rao also criticized Telangana’s government for appointing Adityanath Das, a former Andhra Pradesh official, as an advisor. He accused Das of working against Telangana’s water interests in the past. Notably, Adityanath Das was sentenced to jail by the Supreme Court for presenting false arguments in favor of Andhra Pradesh’s illegal Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Project. Harish Rao questioned why such a controversial figure was given an important role in Telangana.
The silence of the Chief Minister has raised suspicions, Harish Rao said, suggesting there might be political reasons behind the inaction. “Why hasn’t the Chief Minister approached Union Ministers or the Prime Minister to stop Andhra Pradesh’s illegal projects? Is this silence a form of ‘guru dakshina’ (a repayment for political favors)?” he asked.
Harish Rao concluded by demanding stronger action from the state government to protect Telangana’s water rights before it is too late.
