Hyderabad: With Telangana staring at a rain deficit and rapidly shrinking reservoir levels, the state govt will prioritise drinking water supplies while taking measures to protect crops and support farmers through the ongoing El Niño-induced stress, irrigation minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy told the assembly on Friday.Participating in a short duration discussion on El Niño, Uttam said the govt was treating the situation with urgency and had already alerted the agriculture and irrigation departments to prepare for possible fallout. He maintained that the present crisis was a combination of adverse weather conditions and what he described as a decade of irrigation mismanagement, incomplete projects and faulty execution under the previous BRS govt.Safeguarding drinking water, protecting standing crops and securing Telangana’s rightful share of river waters remained the govt’s immediate priorities, he said.“We cannot prevent El Niño but the govt is prepared and is also further prepared to reduce its impact. Farmers were informed about the possibility of deficient rainfall, irrigation availability and suitable crop choices,” he said.The minister said the southwest monsoon took nearly 15 days to cover all 33 districts of the state, and rainfall remained uneven across regions. The impact is evident in reservoir storage levels. As of Sept 17, Srisailam reservoir held 61.65 tmc of water compared with 153.56 tmc on the same date last year. Nagarjuna Sagar’s usable storage declined from 174.25 tmc to 44.89 tmc, while Singur fell from 16.69 tmc to 3.48 tmc and Lower Manair from 21.39 tmc to 8.95 tmc.“Of the state’s 44,034 tanks, nearly 40 per cent were less than one-quarter full. Only 18 per cent had reached between 75 and 100 per cent of capacity. Drinking water would receive priority, with irrigation releases determined after securing supplies for Mission Bhagiratha, urban and rural requirements, and the coming summer. Project-specific water budgets and district drinking water security plans are being prepared, with reservoir levels and inflows to be reviewed every 10 days,” he said.On Kaleshwaram, Uttam said suggestions that the project could be revived with minor repairs ignored engineering realities. Investigations, rehabilitation designs, safety clearances, and controlled restarting procedures were necessary before full operations could resume.“The govt had not abandoned the entire Kaleshwaram project and was pumping water through components that could be operated safely, including link-II,” he said.The minister also urged BJP leaders to persuade the Centre and Maharashtra govt to move forward on the Tummidihatti project, which he described as vital for farmers in northern Telangana. He alleged that scrapping the original Pranahitha-Chevella project was a major mistake committed by the previous BRS govt.On Krishna waters, Uttam reiterated Telangana’s demand for an equal 50:50 sharing arrangement and said the state would continue its legal and administrative fight before all available forums. “We will not surrender a single drop of water rightfully due to Telangana,” he said.Reservoir storage halves in a yearMinister Uttam Kumar Reddy said the combined storage in reservoirs across the Krishna and Godavari basins had dropped sharply from 497 tmc on Sept 17 last year to 241 tmc this year against a total live storage capacity of 585 tmc. “Repairs to the three barrages of Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla are expected to begin around Oct-Nov and be completed before the next monsoon season. During this critical period marked by El Niño, the govt is prioritising the retention of drinking water reserves as we move forward. We are ensuring that water for irrigation is released only after fully accounting for drinking water requirements,” he added.
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