KTR Alleges Congress Govt Denying Krishna Water to Jurala Ayacut as Farmers Protest

Working president of the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) K.T. Rama Rao on Monday alleged that the Congress government in Telangana had deceived farmers in the Krishna basin by denying water for irrigation under a project built with assured waters. He said Andhra Pradesh was taking water for projects based on surplus waters outside the basin.

Addressing a press conference in Hyderabad, Mr. Rama Rao said farmers under the Jurala project's Right and Left Canals in the combined Mahabubnagar district were being pushed into distress. According to him, available water was being denied to standing crops at crucial stages, despite protests by farmers at the project site and elsewhere in the district.

Mr. Rama Rao said that out of 248 tmc ft of inflows into Krishna basin projects this year, Telangana had utilised only 28 tmc ft. He said the government would be held responsible even if one acre of standing crop withered in the Jurala ayacut. If needed, he added, the government should get 10 tmc ft of water from Karnataka by talking to the Congress government there.

The BRS leader also referred to the ongoing political row over properties. He reiterated that the government had all powers to take action against BRS leaders if they had acquired or held properties illegally. He said he was ready for a probe by a sitting judge into the properties of family members of Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao.

Separately, senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao questioned the Congress government's failure to give Krishna water to the ayacut under projects in the basin in Telangana. He said Andhra Pradesh had taken the same water to Kuppam, located 738 km from the Srisailam reservoir. He accused the government of gross negligence for not lifting adequate water for the Kalwakurthy, Bhima, Nettempadu and Koilsagar projects, and for not switching on the motors of the Palamuru-Rangareddy project to fill tanks wherever possible during floods in the Krishna.

The Jurala project, also known as Priyadarshini Jurala, is located on the Krishna river in Telangana. Its right and left canals serve a command area, or ayacut, in the combined Mahabubnagar district. An ayacut is the area of land that receives irrigation from a project.

The BRS is the principal opposition party in Telangana, while the Congress government is led by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy. Irrigation and Krishna water have been major political issues in the state, especially in the combined Mahabubnagar region, where several projects depend on the Krishna and its tributaries.

Water sharing in the Krishna basin has been a long-standing issue among riparian states. The Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal allocated water among Karnataka, Maharashtra, Telangana and Andhra Pradesh under earlier awards, and disputes over project-wise releases and surplus flows have continued. The terms assured waters and surplus waters refer to different categories of water availability in the basin, though the details are often contested in political and legal forums.

The BRS leaders' remarks come amid continuing political debate over irrigation and water management in Telangana. The Congress government's response to the allegations was not included in the report. The claims made by the BRS leaders are political allegations, and the government's position could not be independently verified from the press conference statements alone.