BRS stages protests seeking water release from Jurala project, Cong hits back

Hyderabad, Sep 21 (PTI) Several BRS leaders and workers were taken into preventive custody across Jogulamba Gadwal district in Telangana on Monday after they protested, demanding the release of irrigation water from the Jurala project in Krishna district.

The BRS called for a dharna at the Jurala project. Police prevented the party activists from proceeding towards the project.

While BRS Working President K T Rama Rao attacked the Congress government for not releasing water to help farmers in its command area, state minister Jupally Krishna Rao hit back, saying there would have been no water shortage had the previous BRS regime built reservoirs for additional storage.

Condemning the police over preventive detentions, Rama Rao alleged that the Congress government is trying to suppress protests instead of saving the crops by releasing water.

The Revanth Reddy government was damaging the crops even though nine TMC of water is available in the Jurala project, he said.

"It is unforgivable that the Congress government is not releasing water from the project though two TMC of water is adequate to meet drinking water needs," he claimed in a post on X.

Meanwhile, state BJP president N Ramchander Rao urged the Chief Minister to speak to his "friend" and Karnataka counterpart DK Shivakumar and secure the release of water from Almatty and Narayanpur reservoirs to help farmers under the command area of the Jurala project.

Demanding immediate release of water from Jurala, Rao said he will visit the project on Tuesday.

State Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao said the inflow into the Jurala project was less than 300 cusecs.

Noting that the capacity of the project is over nine TMC, he said about three TMC of water is in silt, while another three TMC is meant for meeting drinking water needs till the end of June, 2027.

"How can drinking water requirements be ignored?" he asked.

Responding to BRS criticism, Krishna Rao sought to know why the previous BRS government did not build reservoirs for additional water storage.

Acknowledging the shortage of water for farmers dependent on Jurala project, he said the government has appealed, several times, to the farming community to cultivate less water intensive crops in view of El Nino.

He said the state government is also in talks with Karnataka Chief Minister for the release of water from Almatty and Narayanpur projects.