State government is likely to release a White Paper on irrigation projects today

The state government is likely to release a White Paper on irrigation projects in the Legislative Assembly on Monday, ahead of the visit to the disaster-hit Medigadda barrage on Tuesday, highlighting the corruption and failure of the BRS government in constructing and maintaining the projects. On Sunday, the Congress fortified its legislators with data ahead of the expected battle over river water issues.

Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy explained the intricacies of the issue to the Congress Legislative Party (CLP) over a period of four hours as part of the preparation for the slugfest with the BRS. Revanth Reddy is expected to lead all MPs and legislators to the Medigadda barrage, where the sinking of piers has all but rendered the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project ineffective. In the Powerpoint presentation held at the Mahatma Jyotirao Phule Praja Bhavan on Sunday, Revanth Reddy, Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka, and ministers N. Uttam Kumar Reddy and D Sridhar Babu highlighted the BRS government’s failures on the irrigation front despite its tall claims on the subject.

The Congress government is understood to have decided to not hand



over irrigation projects on the Krishna River to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB) till such time that water allocation from the river to Telangana state is decided. The government has also decided to pass a resolution seeking the withdrawal Central forces who were posted at the Nagarjunasagar project following a dispute after the Andhra Pradesh released water from the dam just a day ahead of the Assembly elections in Telangana state.

The Congress has alleged that the BRS government had agreed to hand over the projects and that it had allowed Andhra Pradesh to take a major portion of the water. Discussing the BRS government's failures, Revanth Reddy asked party MLAs to combat the BRS in the House on Monday. 

During his presentation, Revanth Reddy said that the BRS government had released government orders to release water to Andhra Pradesh, but had kept them confidential. Irrigation minister Uttam Kumar Reddy gave a detailed briefing about the irregularities in the irrigation projects constructed by the BRS government. Revanth Reddy inquired about the funds spent on irrigation projects.