Minister Uttam Reddy blames KCR’s ‘failures’, El Nino for water scarcity

HYDERABAD: Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday attributed Telangana’s present water scarcity to El Nino conditions and former chief minister K Chandrasekhar Rao’s “failures” on the irrigation front.

During an informal chat with reporters here, Uttam said that El Nino had affected rainfall and water availability, while the previous BRS government’s failure to complete key irrigation projects, despite spending about `1.81 lakh crore, made Telangana more vulnerable to water stress.

Objecting to the language being used by the BRS leaders, Uttam said that the responsibility for the deterioration in political language lies with those who had set that precedent. The minister also said the BRS leadership had no moral right to question the Congress government on irrigation after having left many projects incomplete.

Uttam alleged that the Medigadda barrage had suffered serious structural damage and that the present government was now undertaking rehabilitation measures. “What is the purpose of taking people there? Just to show the damages suffered by the project, which was designed and constructed under your government?” he asked the BRS chief.