Telangana’s drought crisis became the focus of a political dispute on Friday after former irrigation minister and BRS leader T. Harish Rao accused Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy’s government of failing to prepare for water shortages and of creating fear among farmers and residents.
Harish Rao’s statement followed comments made by Revanth Reddy during a review meeting on the impact of El Nino. The BRS leader alleged that the drought was the result of the Congress government’s “incompetence” rather than a natural phenomenon. His remarks were reported by Deccan Chronicle.
According to Harish Rao, the Chief Minister was “throwing up his hands” instead of addressing the shortage. He questioned how a government could warn of an approaching drought while claiming that little could be done to prevent its effects.
The dispute centres on the management of Telangana’s water resources, including the availability of water for drinking and irrigation. Harish Rao said it was the Chief Minister’s responsibility to take all possible steps to ensure drinking water for the public. He criticised what he described as statements that water would not be available in the coming days, arguing that such messaging would increase anxiety among farmers and residents.
Harish Rao also questioned why water had not been lifted from the Godavari and Krishna rivers and used to fill reservoirs if the government had known for six months that drought conditions were developing. The statement did not provide details of the specific projects, storage levels or volumes involved in the allegation.
He demanded a White Paper from the state government setting out water storage levels in its projects, drinking water requirements, the status of irrigation water and the funds allocated for drought mitigation. Such information would provide a formal account of the state’s available water resources and the government’s response to the developing crisis, although no White Paper was cited as having been released in the report.
The political disagreement comes as water availability becomes a direct administrative concern for Telangana’s cities, towns and rural areas. Reservoir storage, river-water allocation and drought-mitigation spending affect not only crop cultivation but also the ability of local administrations to maintain drinking-water supplies. The report, however, does not provide current reservoir figures, rainfall data, district-wise water requirements or details of any restrictions announced by the government.
Harish Rao said criticism directed at him or former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao would not resolve the drought. His statement called instead for publicly documented information on water stocks, requirements and funding.
The reported review on El Nino impacts and Harish Rao’s demand for a White Paper are the next identifiable steps in the dispute. The state government’s detailed response to the allegations, including project-wise storage data and drought-mitigation measures, was not included in the report.
