Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi BRS Working President K T Rama Rao said he would undertake a padayatra from Kodad to Haliya with thousands of farmers if the Telangana government failed to announce a schedule for releasing water into the Nagarjuna Sagar Left Canal by September 14.
Alleging that the Congress government was withholding water from the Left Canal despite around 180 TMC being available in the Nagarjuna Sagar project, Rama Rao, also known as KTR, said farmers were anxious about their crops.
“If the government does not announce a clear water-release schedule by September 14, I will personally undertake a padayatra from Kodad to Haliya with thousands of farmers,” he said, demanding that the government immediately announce a detailed plan specifying when water would reach farmers.
He recalled that his father and BRS president K Chandrasekhar Rao had undertaken a similar padayatra (foot march) from Kodad to Haliya in Nalgonda district in 2003 in support of farmers dependent on the Left Canal, successfully pressuring the then government to resolve their water woes.
He said he was prepared to launch a similar agitation now.
Addressing an event in Miryalguda in Nalgonda district on Thursday evening, September 3, Rama Rao said the Nagarjuna Sagar command area, which had flourished under the BRS government and contributed significantly to Telangana’s agricultural growth, was facing a severe crisis, leaving farmers across the Left Canal command area uncertain about water for their crops.
He attacked the Congress government over unfulfilled poll promises on farm loan waivers, financial assistance and crop bonuses.
Countering Rama Rao, Congress MLA Beerla Ilaiah told reporters on Friday that irrigation projects in Nalgonda district, including modernisation works on the Left Canal, had been ignored under the previous BRS regime, and that people would not trust the BRS even if Rama Rao undertook a padayatra or similar agitation.
Ilaiah said the state government was prioritising drinking water supply in view of deficient rainfall attributed to El Nino and alleged that Rama Rao was resorting to agitations as he was “unable to digest the popularity of the Congress government”, which had recently completed 1,000 days in office.
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