Mallanna Sagar Canals in Limbo as Harish Rao Takes ‘Selfie’ Swipe at Revanth Reddy

Former Telangana minister and BRS legislature party deputy leader T. Harish Rao has accused the Congress government of abandoning irrigation canal works across the erstwhile Medak district, leaving farmers facing severe water shortages.

Harish Rao, along with Narsapur MLA Sunitha Lakshma Reddy, inspected stalled Mallanna Sagar and Kaleshwaram canal works in the Narsapur constituency on Thursday. At Reddypally, he stood beside a canal choked with thorny bushes and weeds and issued a ‘selfie challenge’ to Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy, calling its neglected condition evidence of the Congress government’s alleged failure.

Harish Rao said the previous BRS government had planned irrigation facilities under Mallanna Sagar Packages 18 and 19 for Narsapur, Andole and Sangareddy constituencies. He claimed that nearly 85 per cent of the 18-km tunnel connecting Mallanna Sagar with Narsapur had been completed during the BRS regime, with only 300 metres remaining.

He said completing the pending stretch would enable Godavari water to reach Haldi Vagu and subsequently the Nizam Sagar system, benefiting farmers in Medak and Nizamabad districts. He added that an allocation of just ₹50 crore could help provide irrigation to another 50,000 acres under Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar and Ranganayaka Sagar.

Harish Rao alleged that the Congress government was neglecting the erstwhile Medak district’s irrigation projects for political reasons. Referring to Revanth Reddy’s recent Sangareddy visit, he said the Chief Minister gave advice but did not address stalled irrigation works.

He alleged that the government had not excavated a single stretch of canal or released funds for these projects. He recalled that during the BRS regime, check dams on the Haldi and Manjeera streams overflowed even in summer, while they now remain without adequate water.

Harish Rao demanded the immediate resumption of the Sangameshwara and Basaveshwara lift irrigation projects, which he said would irrigate five lakh acres across Narayankhed, Zaheerabad, Andole, Sangareddy and Patancheru.

He also sought completion of the Ghanapur barrage height-raising works and the Dubbak lift irrigation project, where 80 per cent work was reportedly complete. Citing possible drought conditions linked to El Niño, he urged the government to fill Mallanna Sagar and Kondapochamma Sagar reservoirs.