VRC Phaniharan Nagarjunsagar

Dryinggroundwater, withering crops and reduced power supply are hurting farmers across the state due to the government’s negligence, alleged BJP Telangana State unit president N Ramachander Rao.

After visiting the Nagarjuna Sagar project and Kanagal and Nalgonda rural mandals during his Nalgonda district tour on Wednesday, he said cultivation across thousands of acres depended entirely on borewells. Though the Congress government claimed to be supplying power for 12 to 15 hours, farmers were receiving only about five hours, leaving crops to wither.

He said people and children in villages were suffering due to the heat and mosquito menace as fans could not run. He alleged that the State government was blaming the Centre for the power shortage by citing coal scarcity instead of improving coordination between Genco and Discoms and effectively utilising thermal, hydel, solar and Chhattisgarh power.

Ramachander Rao also criticised Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi for promising a crop insurance scheme better than the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana at the Warangal Rythu Declaration meeting, but allegedly failing to provide minimum insurance protection after coming to power.

He demanded that the government seek immediate release of water from upstream Almatti and Narayanpur reservoirs to meet Hyderabad’s drinking water needs.

Criticising the previous KCR government for agreeing to a 299 TMC Krishna water allocation, he said both the BRS and Congress had neglected Telangana’s interests. He demanded that the State present a strong case before the KRMB and Apex Council.

He said the crisis could have been mitigated by constructing reservoir tanks at Jurala to store surplus floodwater. He also pointed to the RDS project, whose 15 TMC capacity has reportedly been reduced to five TMC due to lack of desilting, and alleged that governments had neglected smaller projects while spending heavily on mega projects.