Open Kannepalli pump, demands KTR; Uttam says not before 2027

Uttam said that switching on the Kannepalli pumphouse will release water into the Annaram barrage, which is plagued with several defects.

Hyderabad: Telangana Irrigation Minister Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday, July 5, denied Bharat Rashtra Samithi’s (BRS) claims that abundant water could be supplied to farmers by switching on the Kannepalli pumphouse, saying that storing water in the three barrages, Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla, was highly dangerous.

Conducting a press conference at the Secretariat, the minister said that switching on the Kannepalli pumphouse will release water into the Annaram barrage, which is plagued with several defects in its foundation.

He said that the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) has advised against holding water in any barrages of the Kaleshwaram project until comprehensive repairs are completed.

He accused the previous BRS government for changing the project’s original design for political and commercial gain, and said that if the structures had been built properly, North Telangana would not be facing water uncertainty today.

He said that Block 7 of the Medigadda barrage had sunk after the soil beneath it got washed away. Similar deficiencies have been spotted at the Annaram and Sundilla barrages as well, and storing water in them could put the downstream towns at risk, he said.

“The government has launched an extensive repair program and the project would be functional by this time next year. Engineers were finalising the designs, and construction will begin as soon as the floodwater recedes,” he said.

To protect farmers while the Kaleshwaram is under repair, the state government is designing a new project so that water can be pumped from Tummidihatti, he added.

KTR demands Kannepalli pump operation

Earlier in the day, BRS working president KT Rama Rao (KTR) visited the Kannepalli pump house and demanded that the Congress government immediately operate the pump to protect Telangana from an impending drought.

KTR said 26 out of Telangana’s 33 districts are already facing drought-like conditions, while lakhs of cusecs of Godavari water continue to flow wastefully into the sea because the government has failed to utilise the existing Kaleshwaram infrastructure.

He condemned the police for repeatedly obstructing the BRS delegation during its journey from Hyderabad to Kannepalli, alleging that what should have been a four-hour journey took nearly seven hours due to barricades and restrictions imposed at multiple locations.

He warned that if the government failed to comply, the BRS would intensify its agitation.

(With inputs from IANS.)