CWPRS tests; politics does the pumping
BRS cites a ‘report’ to demand Kaleshwaram be switched on now. The public CWPRS paper says: test results to inform whether to store water — not a green light. The Congress government owes Telangana farmers more than slogans.
Test results are not the same as a safety clearance.
Agriculture | Analysis
BRS state general secretary Tatiparthi Jeevan Reddy has demanded the Kaleshwaram project be put back into operation immediately, citing what he called a central technical report, and threatened an agitation against Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy if the Kannepalli pumps aren’t run. His remarks were reported from a Saturday meeting in Rajanna Sircilla, along with a Rs 100 crore cofferdam ask at Kannepalli and a claim that Medigadda, Annaram and Sundilla are “excellent”.
Here is what the record shows. The testing agency is CWPRS, Pune — a Union Ministry body — not the “NDSCL” in the report’s wording. CWPRS’s own published highlight on Kaleshwaram covers a parallel seismic test at Sundilla, notes “anomalous low velocity signatures (< 3000 m/s) … in almost all bays”, and says the results will help decide “whether to store water in the barrage or not.” That is decision-support science, not a switch-on order.
The Telangana government’s April note said CWPRS-supervised testing and sampling — including across the full 1.6 km Medigadda — was to be completed before monsoon, with repair designs underway. In July, Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy said pumps cannot be operated until rehabilitation and clearances from NDSA and the CWC. If the Congress government is sitting on fresh, formal clearances, it can publish them today. Otherwise, farmers deserve the truth, not theatre.
BRS wants the water lifted. CWPRS has published test flags for engineers to fix. The Congress-run state still hasn’t put a signed safety clearance on the table.