Hyderabad’s water crisis has triggered a fresh political confrontation, with Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) legislators from Hyderabad and Ranga Reddy districts demanding that the Telangana government resume lifting Godavari water from the Kannepalli pump house to protect the city’s drinking-water supply. The legislators said they would stage a protest at Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy’s residence if immediate steps were not taken.
BRS MLAs Devireddy Sudheer Reddy, Madhavaram Krishna Rao, K P Vivekanand Goud, Marri Rajashekar Reddy and Bandari Laxma Reddy visited the Kannepalli pump house on Saturday along with former minister Errabelli Dayakar Rao and former MLA Gandra Venkata Ramana Reddy. The pump house is part of the Kaleshwaram project. After inspecting the facility, the leaders alleged that large quantities of Godavari water were flowing downstream and eventually reaching the sea while Hyderabad faced growing concerns over its drinking-water availability.
The BRS leaders claimed that more than 750 TMC of Godavari water had flowed into the sea since June. They said lifting about 250 TMC could have helped replenish reservoirs and tanks, improve groundwater levels and meet the city’s drinking-water requirements. These figures and the demand to restart pumping were presented by the BRS leaders during a press conference at Kannepalli; the report did not include an independent assessment or a response from the state government.
MLA K P Vivekanand Goud said BRS working president K T Rama Rao had visited the site in July and warned about the possible impact of El Niño and an impending water crisis. Vivekanand Goud alleged that Chief Minister Revanth Reddy had failed to act until nearly 800 TMC of water had reportedly flowed into the sea. He also said that around 10 TMC would be sufficient to meet Hyderabad’s drinking-water requirements for a year, and urged the government to resume lifting water from Kannepalli immediately.
The demand comes against complaints from residents in the BRS legislators’ constituencies about reduced supply frequency and low pressure. MLA Marri Rajashekar Reddy said residents were receiving water once every three days, and even then at low pressure. He added that Water Board officials had told them the Singur and Manjeera reservoirs were drying up. The legislators said their visit was intended to assess water availability at the source and examine whether pumping could be resumed.
The dispute also extends to the condition and operation of the Kaleshwaram project. MLA D Sudheer Reddy criticised the government over what he described as inaction on concerns regarding the Medigadda barrage, including an alleged blast targeting its piers. He claimed that no action had been taken on the complaint for three years and that repair work had not begun. Those allegations were not independently established in the report.
The immediate question for Hyderabad is whether additional Godavari water can be lifted and transferred through the Kaleshwaram system, and what operational or technical clearances may be required. The BRS legislators called for pumping to resume without delay. The report did not specify a government decision, a confirmed pumping schedule or a formal response from the Hyderabad Metropolitan Water Supply and Sewerage Board.
