Harish Rao presentation directly addressed what he called “inconsistent and misleading” claims by Congress leaders, including Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy.
Published Jun 07, 2025 | 4:22 PM ⚊ Updated Jun 07, 2025 | 4:22 PM
Harish Rao on Kaleshwaram project. (X)
Synopsis: Ahead of his 9 June deposition before the PC Ghose Commission, former BRS minister T Harish Rao defended the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, calling Congress criticism exaggerated. He highlighted its irrigation of 20.33 lakh acres, robust engineering, and superior storage over the earlier Pranahita-Chevella plan. Rao cited technical, political, and infrastructural reasons for relocating intake to Medigadda and accused Congress of misinformation and financial mismanagement.
Ahead of his deposition before the PC Ghose Commission on the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme (KLIS) on 9 June, former Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) minister and Siddipet MLA T Harish Rao accused the Congress of making mountains out of molehills over the collapse of just two piers in the Medigadda barrage in October 2023, a few days before the Assembly elections.
Harish Rao, in a presentation before the media a Telangana Bhavan on Saturday, 7 June defended shifting of the water intake point from Thummidi Hatti in Adilabad district to Medigadda because of better water availability.
In a very long presentation, the BRS leader attempted to address “misinformation” spread by the ruling Congress government on the project’s achievements and its impact. The presentation focussed on project’s irrigation benefits. He reiterated the project was the then BRS government’s vision under former Chief Minister K Chandrashekar Rao to transform Telangana’s agricultural landscape.
He said that the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Scheme, one of the world’s largest lift irrigation project, was a flagship initiative of the BRS government, designed to harness the waters of the Godavari River to irrigate millions of acres across Telangana.
Harish Rao further said that the project was intended to address the the limitations of the earlier Pranahita-Chevella project, proposed by the Congress government, which had a storage capacity of only 11 TMCFT (thousand million cubic feet) of water.
In contrast, the Kaleshwaram Project has a storage capacity of 141 TMCFt across 16 reservoirs, including Medigadda, Annaram, Sundilla, Medaram, Malkapet, Ananthagiri, Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar, Bussapur, Gandhamalla, Kondam Cheruvu, Bhumpally, Mote, Dharmaraopet, Katevadi, Muddojivadi, and Timmakkapalli.
He asserted that the Mallanna Sagar reservoir alone can store 50 TMCFt water, making it a cornerstone of the project’s ability to ensure water availability even during droughts. He said at Medigadda water is consistently available, even when other reservoirs like SRSP (Sriramsagar Project), Kadem, or Ellampalli lack sufficient inflows. This reliability, he argued, has been pivotal in stabilising irrigation across Telangana.
His presentation directly addressed what he called “inconsistent and misleading” claims by Congress leaders, including Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy.
He refuted Reddy’s assertion that “not a single acre” was irrigated under Kaleshwaram, as well as Uttam Kumar Reddy’s claim that only 50,000 acres benefited. Another Congress leader’s estimate of 1 lakh acres was also dismissed as inaccurate.
Harish Rao presented data to counter these claims, asserting that the project has irrigated 98,570 acres of new ayacut (area of land that is irrigated by a specific irrigation work, such as a canal, dam, or tank) through its canal system.
“Besides, 456 minor irrigation tanks filled by Kaleshwaram waters have supported 39,146 acres, while 2,143 tanks linked to SRSP Stage I, SRSP Stage II, and Nizamsagar projects have irrigated an additional 1.67 lakh acres of new ayacut,” he added.
Harish Rao further said that Kaleshwaram has stabilised irrigation for 17.08 lakh acres under SRSP Stage I, SRSP Stage II, and Nizamsagar projects. “Through 66 check dams along streams like Kudelli Vagu and Haldi Vagu, another 20,576 acres have been brought under irrigation.”
In total, he claimed, the project has facilitated irrigation for 20.33 lakh acres, a figure he backed with reports from the Irrigation Department. “Congress leaders are spreading false narrative by claiming no benefits or minimal irrigation,” Rao said.
The presentation explained the intricate engineering of the Kaleshwaram Project, which relies on a series of pumps and reservoirs to lift and distribute water across Telangana’s undulating terrain.
Rao explained how water is pumped from Medigadda to Mid Manair, and subsequently to reservoirs like Annapurna, Ranganayaka Sagar, Mallanna Sagar, and Kondapochamma Sagar.
“The motors installed at Medigadda bring water to Annapurna, from Annapurna to Ranganayaka Sagar, from Ranganayaka Sagar to Mid Manair, and so on,” he said, stressing the interconnected system that has enabled millions of acres to be cultivated.
“Even during drought years, reverse pumping from Mid Manair to LMD (Lower Manair Dam) and SRSP Stage I ensured water supply to regions like Tungaturthi, Suryapet, and Kodad, protecting crops from failure,” he further added.
The BRS leader credited KCR’s foresight for re-engineering the project to maximise Godavari water utilisation. He said that of the 1,465 kilometers of the Godavari River’s course, 750 kilometers flow through Telangana, entitling the state to 969 TMCFT of the 1,480 TMCFT allocated to the erstwhile Andhra Pradesh.
However, prior to 2014, Telangana’s actual utilisation never exceeded 400 TMCFT, largely due to the lack of infrastructure like SRSP and Devadula, the only Godavari-based projects before Kaleshwaram became a reality.
The former BRS Minister took aim at the United Andhra Pradesh’s Congress government’s handling of the Pranahita-Chevella project, which he said was poorly planned and financially mismanaged.
He cited a Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) report that revealed ₹2,328 crore was disbursed as mobilisation advances to contractors between 2007 and 2014, with ₹1,052 crore spent without any physical progress. “Not a a little amount of earth was moved,” Rao alleged.
He also recalled Revanth Reddy’s criticism of the project during his time in the Telugu Desam Party, when he called it a “Dhana Yagnam” (financial plunder) rather than a “Jala Yagnam” (water mission).
Harish Rao also challenged Uttam Kumar Reddy’s recent claim that Congress spent ₹ 10,000 crore on Pranahita-Chevella, asserting that official records show only ₹3,700 crore was spent. He accused Congress of inflating project costs, noting that the initial estimate of ₹17,875 crore in 2007 was revised to ₹38,500 crore without significant work, and later to ₹40,300 crore.
He elaborated on the challenges faced during the project’s inception, particularly the limitations at Tummidi Hatti, where the Pranahita-Chevella project was initially proposed.
He explained that the Central Water Commission (CWC) had flagged insufficient water availability and the lack of storage capacity at the site.
“The Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 152 meters proposed by the Congress government was rejected by Maharashtra, which insisted on 148 meters. Despite negotiations with Maharashtra’s then-Congress government, including meetings with Irrigation Minister Hasan Mushrif and Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan, no consensus was reached,” the former minister added.
He said that after the 2014 elections, he had met with his Maharashtra’s counterprat Girish Mahajan, but the issue required resolution at the chief ministerial level.
Ultimately, the BRS government, with inputs from the Central Water Commission and WAPCOS, selected Medigadda as an alternative site, enabling the construction of a project with significantly higher storage and irrigation potential.
(Edited by Sumavarsha)
