HYDERABAD: Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday said that the government would persist with its legal, technical and administrative battle for Telangana’s rightful share in Krishna river waters.
He accused the previous BRS regime of betraying Telangana and compromising on its long-term interests, allowing large-scale water diversion by Andhra Pradesh, engineering failures and financial mismanagement.
The minister made two detailed PowerPoint presentations at Praja Bhavan — one on the illegal diversion of Krishna river waters to Andhra Pradesh and the other on the disastrous consequences of shifting the originally sanctioned Dr BR Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi (PCSS) project to Medigadda under the Kaleshwaram project.
The first presentation highlighted how the BRS regime, during its 10-year rule from 2014 to 2023, failed to protect Telangana’s entitlement to Krishna waters and even facilitated illegal infrastructure development by Andhra Pradesh to divert water from the Srisailam reservoir. He said AP’s diversion of Krishna water to outside-basin areas surged from 245.3 tmc between 2004-05 and 2014 to 1,192.44 tmc between 2014-15 and 2023-24, due to the expansion of the Muchumarri Lift Irrigation Scheme and the creation of the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation Scheme (RLIS). These projects increased AP’s drawal capacity from the Srisailam reservoir to 11 tmc per day.
The minister pointed out that these works were undertaken without clearance from the Central Water Commission (CWC) or Apex Council’s approval, in clear violation of the AP Reorganisation Act. Despite being fully aware, the BRS government failed to raise objections with the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) or the Union Jal Shakti Ministry, thus compromising Telangana’s rightful share.
He said the previous government accepted unjust water-sharing ratios, first agreeing to a 299:512 tmc formula in 2015 and later to a 34:66 ratio in 2017-18, which continued until 2020.
He alleged that the BRS government even wrote to KRMB stating that the 34:66 formula should continue “since no other basis exists”.
The Congress government, Uttam said, has now officially rejected that stance and submitted project-specific allocations to the Tribunal. These include 90 tmc for Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), 50 tmc for Kalwakurthy LIS, 40 tmc each for Nettempadu LIS and SLBC, 20 tmc for Bhima LIS and 15 tmc for Dindi LIS.
These projects are vital for Telangana’s drought-prone and fluoride-affected regions, and their allocations had been left pending due to the BRS government’s failure. To ensure accountability and transparency, the Congress government has already released funds for telemetry systems to monitor water drawals in real time.
‘BRS regime ignored expert advice on KLIS’
Turning to the Kaleshwaram issue, the minister launched a scathing critique of the BRS decision to abandon the PCSS project and instead take up the Kaleshwaram project. He said the original PCSS project had received in-principle approval from the CWC with assured water availability of 165 tmc at 75 per cent dependability. It was designed to irrigate 16.4 lakh acres across seven districts through a gravity-lift combination with modest power requirements. By 2014, `11,679 crore had already been spent, and the project was eligible for 80 per cent Central assistance under the AIBP scheme. Public hearings had been held, statutory clearances secured, and even KCR had written to the Centre seeking national project status.
“Yet, in 2016, citing unconvincing submergence concerns from Maharashtra, the BRS government shifted the intake point to Medigadda and launched the Kaleshwaram project, ignoring expert advice. A committee of retired chief engineers constituted in
2015 had specifically warned against the shift. Nonetheless, the BRS leadership proceeded, turning the project into the most expensive lift irrigation scheme in the country, with a projected cost of `1.27 lakh crore as per the 2022 CAG Draft Report. Worse, construction of Medigadda barrage began in March 2016, even before the Detailed Project Report was approved in June 2018 — evidence of haste, poor planning, and political showmanship,” he said.
“According to NDSA, of the 155 tmc of water lifted, 63 tmc was released back into the river unused, only 92 tmc was technically available, and just 27 tmc reached reservoirs. The project irrigated only 98,570 acres -- nowhere close to the BRS government’s claim of 37 lakh acres. Over 50 per cent of the ayacut claimed under Kaleshwaram was actually from older projects like Sri Ram Sagar, Nizamsagar, Singur and IFFC, suggesting deliberate manipulation of impact figures,” he added.
Uttam said that the Congress government will rehabilitate the Kaleshwaram project with a positive mindset, following NDSA recommendations and in consultation with CWC-vetted engineers. The government has decided to redesign the barrages, enforce dam safety norms strictly, and ensure that no water is stored in structurally unsound structures, as this could endanger 44 villages and even Bhadrachalam town.
He asserted that the decision to shift from Tummidihatti to Medigadda was taken without any logical or rational basis, and the reasons given by the BRS leadership did not withstand scrutiny. “The NDSA is a recognised national authority of experts. Their advice is more credible than any political statement made by former ministers like Harish Rao,” he said.
The minister also condemned BRS leaders for running what he called a “Goebbels-
style propaganda campaign” against the Congress government, despite being directly responsible for Telangana’s irrigation and financial crisis. “This is not just a technical or legal matter,” he said.
“It is a fight for justice -- for Telangana’s farmers, its economy, and its future,” he added.
WHAT UTTAM SAID
Andhra Pradesh was able to increase its withdrawal capacity through unauthorised expansion of Muchumarri LIS from 0.85 tmc per day to 3 tmc per day by adding nine pumps, and RLIS from 3 tmc per day to 8 tmc per day, again by installing nine pumps, taking total drawal capacity to 11 tmc per day. These expansions enabled AP to draw water far beyond its share
Andhra Pradesh had taken up other unauthorised projects like Telugu Ganga, GNSS, HNSS, and Veligonda after the 1976 KWDT-1 award, while Telangana’s projects remained neglected
BRS regime played a complicit role in allowing AP to proceed with RLIS tenders by deliberately stalling the Apex Council meeting proposed by the Centre in October 2020. Instead of attending the meeting and raising objections, the then Telangana government raised procedural hurdles and delayed its participation, creating a window of opportunity for Andhra Pradesh, which issued RLIS tenders on October 5, 2020
On March 3, 2025, CM A Revanth Reddy wrote to the Union Jal Shakti Minister, reinforcing Telangana’s demand for a 71% share — 575 tmc out of the 811 tmc originally allotted to undivided Andhra Pradesh
Interstate SE Salla Vijay Kumar explained various aspects of river Krishna during the meeting