"BRS gave away our water to Andhra, we are bringing it back": Telangana Minister Uttam Reddy on Krishna River rights
He accused the previous BRS regime of betraying Telangana's long-term interests by compromising with Andhra Pradesh, allowing large-scale water diversion, engineering failures, and financial mismanagement.
According to a statement, the Minister delivered two detailed PowerPoint presentations at Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan - one on the illegal diversion of Krishna River waters to Andhra Pradesh and the other on the disastrous consequences of relocating the originally sanctioned Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi (PCSS) project to Medigadda under the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme.
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. Uttam Kumar Reddy said Andhra Pradesh'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 enhanced AP's drawal capacity from the Srisailam reservoir to 11 TMC per day.' He pointed out that these works were undertaken without Central Water Commission (CWC) clearance or Apex Council 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 stated that the previous Telangana government accepted unjust water-sharing ratios, initially agreeing to a 299:512 TMC formula in 2015 and later to a 34:66 ratio in 2017-18, which remained in effect 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 Reddy said, has now officially rejected that stance.
He referred to a letter written by Chief Minister Revanth Reddy to the Union Jal Shakti Minister on March 3, 2025, demanding a reversal of the unfair ratio and reinforcing Telangana's demand for a 71% share--575 TMC out of the 811 TMC originally allotted to undivided Andhra Pradesh, based on basin parameters like catchment area, population, drought-prone area, and cultivable land. Final arguments under Section 3 of the ISRWD Act, 1956, are underway before the Krishna Water Disputes Tribunal-II (KWDT-II), and the Congress government has decided to back its claims with strong technical and legal evidence.
Uttam Kumar Reddy further added that Andhra Pradesh was able to increase its withdrawal capacity through unauthorised expansion of Muchumarri LIS from 0.85 TMC/day to 3 TMC/day by adding nine pumps, and RLIS from 3 TMC/day to 8 TMC/day, again by installing nine pumps, taking total drawal capacity to 11 TMC/day. These expansions enabled AP to draw water far beyond its share, and the BRS government's silence allowed these violations to become operational realities. He also reminded that Andhra Pradesh had taken up other unauthorised projects like Telugu Ganga, GNSS, HNSS, and Veligonda after the 1976 KWDT-I award, while Telangana's projects remained neglected.
He said that the 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. By the time Telangana responded, Andhra had already secured administrative and technical momentum, which the BRS failed to challenge, further weakening Telangana's legal case.
The Congress government, Uttam said, has 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 withdrawals in real-time and has re-initiated the process of securing CWC approvals.
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 that the original PCSS project had received in-principle approval from the CWC, with assured water availability of 165 TMC at 75 percent dependability. It was designed to irrigate 16.4 lakh acres across seven districts through a gravity-lift combination with modest power requirements. By 2014, Rs 11,679 crore had already been spent, and the project was eligible for 80 percent 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.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that despite the project not being fully operational, the Congress government has achieved record Yasangi crop production, indicating that efficient management can yield tangible results even from poorly designed assets. He added that the 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.
He added that inefficiency, negligence, and corruption were the hallmarks of the BRS government's irrigation decisions.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said, 'Instead of strengthening a ready-to-go project with central support, the BRS government created a white elephant. Telangana is now paying the price for that disastrous decision. But this government is committed to rebuilding what they destroyed.' He 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.' (ANI)
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