Telangana’s River Water Rights at Stake Due to KCR’s ‘Historical Blunders’: Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy
Hyderabad, January 3, 2026:
Telangana’s ability to fully utilise its rightful share of river waters has been gravely compromised due to what Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy termed as two “historical blunders” committed during the previous Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) regime led by former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao.
Making a detailed PowerPoint presentation on river waters in the Telangana Legislative Assembly on Saturday, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the decisions taken by the BRS government were “suicidal” for the youngest state and had a catastrophic impact on its long-term water security.
Shifted Off-take Points, Lost Advantages
The Minister alleged that the BRS government deliberately altered the off-take points of major irrigation projects initiated during the earlier Indian National Congress regime in undivided Andhra Pradesh, purely to erase the Congress’ imprint.
He explained that the Palamuru Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS), originally designed to draw water upstream of the Jurala project, was shifted to the Srisailam reservoir. Similarly, the Pranahita–Chevella project, conceived to tap Godavari waters at Thummidihatti, was relocated to Medigadda and later subsumed into the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS).
“In both cases, the changes proved counterproductive and deprived Telangana of assured water benefits,” he said.
Ballooning Costs, Zero Irrigation
Terming PRLIS as emblematic of the “betrayal of Palamuru”, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the project could have delivered more benefits with significantly lower investment had the intake remained at Jurala. Instead, project costs escalated from an initial ₹32,000 crore to ₹55,000 crore by 2022 when the DPR was submitted to the Central Water Commission. Completion, he warned, would push the cost to ₹80,000–84,000 crore.
He dismissed BRS claims of 90% completion as “downright cheating”, pointing out that only 25–30% of funding had actually been released. “Not a single acre has received irrigation despite massive expenditure, and land acquisition for over 39,000 acres is still pending,” he said.
On KLIS, the Minister said shifting the Pranahita–Chevella intake to Medigadda resulted in a “disaster”, with all three barrages now under repair and yielding “zero irrigation benefits”.
Mounting Debt and Financial Risk
Uttam Kumar Reddy revealed that over ₹1.83 lakh crore was spent on irrigation during the BRS regime without delivering tangible benefits. Borrowings at exorbitant interest rates of 11–11.5% had saddled future generations with crushing debt.
“The present Congress government corrected these mistakes by converting them into low-interest loans. Otherwise, Telangana would have slipped into a full-blown financial crisis,” he said.
He also pointed out that when BRS was voted out in December 2023, it left behind pending bills of nearly ₹40,000 crore, including about ₹10,000 crore related to irrigation works.
Krishna Water Disputes and ‘Meek Surrender’
Turning to Krishna river disputes, the Minister accused BRS of a “meek surrender” before Andhra Pradesh. He said Telangana was left with just 299 TMC, while AP was allocated 512 TMC in the 2016 Apex Council decision, later endorsed in 2020 to continue until the Brijesh Kumar Tribunal (KWDT-2) gives its final verdict.
He criticised AP’s unilateral expansions of projects such as the Rayalaseema Lift and the Pothireddypadu head regulator, alleging these moves “cost Telangana dearly”. Uttam Kumar Reddy held BRS “squarely responsible” for allowing AP to draw excess water year after year due to its “cozy ties” with the YSRCP government, citing multiple meetings between KCR and Y.S. Jagan Mohan Reddy that allegedly resulted in undue concessions.
He further blamed the BRS government for failing to install telemetry instruments at required points, worsening monitoring and enforcement.
Telangana’s Fresh Demand
Providing historical context, the Minister recalled that the original Krishna allocations were made among Maharashtra, Karnataka and undivided Andhra Pradesh. After bifurcation in 2014, KWDT-2 made interim allocations of AP’s 811 TMC, giving 299 TMC to Telangana and 512 TMC to AP.
Uttam Kumar Reddy asserted that Telangana now seeks 756 TMC—around 70% of the dependable yield—based on catchment area and developmental needs. Despite these challenges, he said, Telangana achieved record crop yields and record procurement of paddy and other crops over the past two years.
