BRS working president KT Rama Rao has called for the restoration of Godavari water for agriculture in Telangana, saying the move would be the “true tribute” to poet Mallavajhala Sadasivudu and could help farmers whose standing crops are struggling for irrigation.
Speaking at a memorial awards function organised by Telangana Vikas Samithi, Rama Rao linked the demand to Sadasivudu’s song “Thalapuna Paaruthundi Godavari”, which he said had inspired people during the Telangana statehood movement and its campaign for water rights. He said poetry and songs had helped sustain public confidence during the movement.
Rama Rao accused the Congress government of ignoring repeated appeals by the BRS to lift available water and protect standing crops. He said fields had been left parched despite what he described as abundant flows in the Godavari and Krishna rivers.
According to Rama Rao, 750 TMCft of water had flowed into the Godavari and 258 TMCft into the Krishna during the first seven-and-a-half months of the monsoon season. He said nearly 1,000 TMCft had ultimately flowed into the sea while farmers continued to face irrigation difficulties. The figures were cited by Rama Rao at the event and were not independently verified in the report.
The BRS leader also alleged that the government had neglected the Kaleshwaram and Palamuru-Rangareddy irrigation projects because of political opposition to BRS chief and former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao. The report did not include a response from the Telangana government to these allegations or provide details of any operational decisions taken on the two projects.
The dispute places the use of river water at the centre of Telangana’s continuing irrigation politics. Rama Rao’s comments connected water availability with the ability of the state’s irrigation system to lift, store and distribute water to agricultural fields. His criticism focused not only on the quantity of water flowing through the river systems, but also on whether existing projects were being used to convert that flow into reliable farm supply.
Kaleshwaram and Palamuru-Rangareddy are among the projects referred to in the political dispute. However, the report did not specify the current operating status of either project, the volume of water lifted through them, or the number of farmers or acres affected by the alleged shortfall.
The remarks were made at an event where memorial awards for 2024-25 and 2025-26 were presented to Cheman Singh and Sangishetty Srinivas. Tirunagari Devakidevi and Kavvampalli Swamy were also honoured for their contributions to literature and culture.
Rama Rao’s call for Godavari water restoration now adds a fresh political demand to the debate over irrigation management in Telangana. The next substantive developments will depend on the state government’s response, project-level water-lifting decisions and official data on river inflows, reservoir storage and agricultural supply.
