Drought stirs political clash in Telangana

The ruling party and the Opposition engage in a blame game over the condition

chandrashekar.bhalki@thehindu.co.in

s the mercury crosses 43 degrees C in different parts of Telangana this summer season, the political heat is not left far behind ahead of the May 13 Lok Sabha election.

The withering of crops due to lack of water for irrigation has been exacerbated by the war of words between the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the ruling Congress party over the drought conditions.

Tempers were already fraying between the two parties for the last few weeks, particularly over the defections allegedly encouraged by the ruling party, which has officially admitted three BRS MLAs and given one of them a ticket to contest the election and to the daughter of another MLA.

The Congress has also given tickets to a sitting MP and the wife of an MLC, both of the BRS, adding fuel to the political fire.

The slugfest took off on October 22 last, after the sinking of a few piers of Medigadda Barrage of the much talked about Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project on the evening of October 21. Perhaps, the incident sowed the seeds of heightened friction between the two parties especially given that the lifting back of water from the project barrages was necessary to keep drought conditions at bay.

ABlame game

The Opposition party is of the view from the beginning that water could have been lifted back with the help of a coffer dam at Medigadda from December first week to avoid scarcity when the standing crops were hit hard with lack of water/moisture to reach harvesting stage with expected yield.

Leaders of the ruling party blamed the previous BRS regime for the current situation, stating that water was not available from the Kaleshwaram project due to problems in Medigadda Barrage and deficit rainfall this water year.

However, the fact remains that rainfall recorded in the southwest monsoon period this water year was normal.

According to the Telangana State Development Planning Society which maintains rainfall data, the rainfall recorded from June 1 to September 30 was 17% higher than normal in the State as the actual rain was 861.1 mm against the normal of 738.6 mm.

But, it has been a lean year for Krishna Basin as flood from the upstream States was minimal with Jurala, Srisailam and Nagarjunasagar getting only 327 tmc ft. flood during the monsoon period of 2023.

At the same time, the flows in Godavari Basin projects were not so pathetic with Singur, Nizamsagar, Sriramsagar, Mid Manair, Lower Manair, Kaddam and Yellampalli getting a flood of 751 tmc ft. during the monsoon period of 2023 against 1,748 tmc ft. during the previous year.

Over 2,822 tmc ft. flood went into the sea from Godavari so far this water year with over 80% contribution from catchment areas till Sammakka Barrage, but in the case of the Krishna Basin, it is only about 63 tmc ft. with most of it generated downstream of Nagarjunasagar.

The slugfest gained further pace with Leader of the Opposition and former Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao taking to field visits to examine the withered crops and console the farmers in distress on March 31 and April 5.

He alleged that the standing crops, mostly paddy, have withered across the State due to the government’s inability to give available water for irrigation and demanded ₹25,000 per acre compensation, as demanded by the Congress in the past, to farmers.

‘Rebuttal mode’ Functionaries of the government are in rebuttal mode, asking the BRS how many times it had compensated the farmers for crop loss suffered due to untimely rain, hails and gales during its 10year rule.

On the other hand, the official machinery is yet to complete the enumeration of crop loss due to lack of water for irrigation as well as untimely rain this Rabi/Yasangi season.

The Opposition has described the present crisis in the agriculture sector as manmade calamity due to the inept handling of water management in a lean water year in the Krishna Basin and lack of foresightedness in the Godavari Basin by the Congress government.

The ruling party is trying to turn the tables on BRS stating that it was due to the incompetent rule of the previous government that the State has landed in the present situation with no word of consolation and relief yet from the government.