BRS leader and former Telangana Agriculture Minister S Niranjan Reddy has challenged the Congress government to immediately release funds, lift available water from the Srisailam reservoir and restart stalled works under the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme (PRLIS). His demand follows Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao’s challenge and focuses on the operation of existing pumps and the removal of an earth obstruction at Package-3.
In a statement, Niranjan Reddy said water was still available in the Srisailam reservoir and urged the State government to use it to address farmers’ concerns under PRLIS. He said the earth obstructing Package-3 should be removed to allow water to flow. According to him, the existing pumps could be operated, although running all 10 pumps would create difficulties.
Niranjan Reddy also said pumps at the Yedula and Vattem reservoirs were ready and could be used to move water up to Karivena reservoir. He stated that each reservoir could store five TMCft, while the remaining works could be completed next year. The statement did not provide a revised government schedule or details of funds required for the proposed activity.
The former minister linked the current water-flow arrangements to decisions taken during the previous BRS government. He said the flow of water from Narlapur reservoir to Yellur reservoir had been made possible by those decisions, and that an outlet inaugurated by Jupally Krishna Rao had been constructed at his request to former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.
He said the earlier government had planned interlinking between Narlapur and Yellur, Yedula and Buddaram, and Vattem reservoir and the Kalwakurthy Lift Irrigation Scheme canal. Niranjan Reddy said these links were intended to overcome the limitations of canals built with inadequate carrying capacity and to ensure water supply to farmers.
The dispute highlights the operational and administrative dependencies within a lift irrigation system, where reservoir availability, pumping capacity, canal links, construction works and funding must align before water can reach downstream storage points. In his statement, Niranjan Reddy questioned why PRLIS works had remained stalled for three years, why canal tenders awarded during the BRS regime had been cancelled and why fresh tenders had not been called.
He also questioned the appointment of officials who, he alleged, had worked against Telangana irrigation projects as advisers to the State. The statement did not include a response from the Congress government to the allegations or specify when the government would take a decision on the funds, Package-3 obstruction, pump operations or fresh tenders.
