Harish Rao Raises Concerns Over Telangana Water Rights

Former minister and BRS deputy floor leader Harish Rao criticized the Congress government over Telangana's water rights during a press conference at Telangana Bhavan. He alleged that the agreements reached during the recent meeting of the three chief ministers were against the interests of Telangana and accused the state government of compromising its water rights.

Harish Rao said Karnataka is planning the 35 TMC Navali Reservoir and three barrages with a combined capacity of 9.5 TMC, while Andhra Pradesh is pursuing the 20 TMC Gundrevula project. He stated that these projects could collectively store 55 TMC of water, causing significant losses to Telangana.

He warned that reduced inflows into the Srisailam project would adversely affect irrigation schemes such as Palamuru-Rangareddy and Kalwakurthy. Harish Rao demanded clarity on Telangana’s 15.9 TMC share under the RDS project and sought explanations regarding the Sammakka Sagar project and Godavari water utilization.

The BRS leader said that during the previous government, approvals were obtained for 383 TMC of additional water projects, taking the total approved capacity to 830 TMC. He alleged that the Congress government has failed to secure approval for even one TMC in the last two and a half years and demanded a discussion on the issue in the Assembly.