Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister Capt. N. Uttam Kumar Reddy reaffirmed the Congress Government’s commitment to protecting TG’s rightful share of Krishna River waters while exposing the BRS government’s failures in securing Telangana’s interests.
Intervening during the debate on the Motion of Thanks on the Governor’s Address in the Telangana Assembly on Saturday, he accused the BRS admin of surrendering Telangana’s water rights to Andhra Pradesh and allowing illegal water withdrawals to continue unchecked.
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Uttam pointed out that the allocation of Krishna waters remains unjust, with Andhra Pradesh receiving 512 TMCs while Telangana got only 299 TMCs, despite the latter’s larger catchment area, drought-prone regions and agricultural needs.
He criticised the BRS government for not contesting this unfair allocation and revealed how the BRS administration’s inaction led to losses for TG.
He blamed the BRS admin for enabling Andhra Pradesh to float tenders for the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS) by delaying the Apex Council meeting, which could have challenged the project. Similarly, he asked under whose admin, Andhra Pradesh increased its irrigation capacity.
KRMB data says that from 2014-15 to 2020-21, Andhra Pradesh took over 64% of the Krishna waters, while Telangana’s share remained below 36%. In 2014-15, AP used 529.33 TMCs, leaving Telangana with only 227.74 TMCs (30.08%). By 2020-21, AP’s usage increased to 629.07 TMCs, while Telangana’s share rose slightly to 248.23 TMCs.
“The BRS government failed to take legal or political action, allowing AP to continue excessive withdrawals,” he said.
Since 2014, Andhra Pradesh has significantly expanded its water withdrawal capacity, increasing the Pothireddypadu Head Regulator’s capacity from 44,000 cusecs in 2005 to 92,600 cusecs in 2023.
The RLIS, designed to extract water even at the lowest reservoir levels, along with the Veligonda Project and other schemes, has strengthened AP’s ability to divert Krishna waters, severely affecting Telangana’s irrigation projects like Kalwakurthy, Nettampadu and Palamuru-Rangareddy LIS.
Uttam slammed the BRS leadership, stating that KCR and Harish Rao, as Irrigation Ministers, had surrendered Telangana’s water rights to AP.
“Despite blatant violations, the BRS government remained passive, failing to approach the Supreme Court or KWDT-II (Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal) to contest AP’s illegal withdrawals,” he said.
The Congress Government is now taking corrective measures, including the installation of telemetry instruments at the Nagarjuna Sagar and Srisailam Dams to monitor water levels and prevent unauthorised diversions by Andhra Pradesh.
Drawing from his personal experience as a six-time MLA and former MP representing the Krishna Basin, Uttam said he remained deeply committed to protecting Telangana’s water rights. “Unlike the BRS government, we have reopened the Krishna water dispute and will fight to secure justice for Telangana,” he concluded.
