Hyderabad: BRS leader and former Telangana minister T Harish Rao on Monday condemned the detention of farmers and BRS leaders protesting for the release of irrigation water to lands under the Jurala ayacut. He demanded the immediate release of those detained and urged the government to supply water to protect standing crops.
Police stopped several BRS leaders and farmers from reaching the Jurala Project on Monday as protests intensified over the irrigation water issue. Former Makthal MLA Chittem Rammohan Reddy was taken into custody, while former ministers S Niranjan Reddy and C Laxma Reddy, former MLA A Venkateshwar Reddy and other BRS leaders were placed under house arrest, according to reports.
Harish Rao questioned why Krishna River water was allegedly being supplied towards Kuppam in Andhra Pradesh while farmers in the Palamuru region were demanding water for their crops. He also alleged that Telangana was not fully utilising irrigation infrastructure created under the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme.
He specifically referred to the Narlapur, Yedula, Karivena and Vattem reservoirs and questioned why pumps were not being operated despite what he described as adequate Krishna River flows. These claims are part of the BRS's criticism of the Congress government and were not independently established from official records in the reports reviewed.
The dispute comes amid growing tensions at the Jurala Project. Farmers had earlier opened the left canal regulator themselves after officials did not release irrigation water, following protests over drying crops. Irrigation officials subsequently closed the regulator, while police and officials were deployed around the project.
Recent reports have cited different figures for water available in the Jurala reservoir. Telangana Today reported a live storage level of about 5.1 TMCft against a gross capacity of 8.81 TMCft on September 20, while BRS leaders have cited higher figures in their statements.
Harish Rao also criticised the government for citing El Niño and other factors while withholding irrigation water. He demanded answers from Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy over the water supply situation.
The Telangana government and irrigation authorities have cited operational and water-availability considerations, while farmers have continued demanding assured water for their standing crops. The issue remains a point of political confrontation between the ruling Congress and the opposition BRS.
