Jurala water protest: crops wait, police arrive
Farmers demanding irrigation water were stopped at Jurala as BRS leaders were detained or placed under house arrest. The water figures remain a bureaucratic mystery.
Farmers seeking irrigation water were stopped at Jurala as the reservoir figures remained disputed.
Farmers demanding irrigation water at the Priyadarshini Jurala Project were stopped by police on Monday, September 21, as BRS leaders tried to reach the dam in Jogulamba Gadwal district. The protest followed farmers opening the Left Canal regulator on September 19; irrigation officials later closed it, according to multiple reports.
Police intercepted farmers and BRS leaders at Nandimalla in Amarchinta mandal. Former Makthal MLA Chittem Rammohan Reddy was taken into custody, while former ministers Singireddy Niranjan Reddy and C. Laxma Reddy were reported to have been placed under house arrest. Other BRS leaders and farmers were also detained or restricted. The Congress government in Telangana has not publicly explained the action in the material reviewed.
The central question is still sitting behind the barricades: how much water is available? Project officials were reported to have cited live storage of 5.1 TMC against a gross capacity of 8.81 TMC. BRS leaders claimed about 9 TMC was available and that drinking-water needs were between 1 and 2 TMC. No current official reservoir bulletin or release order was found to settle the figures. The government has cited El Niño conditions and the absence of senior-level clearance for withholding release. Farmers say another month and a half of water is needed to protect standing paddy. The Congress government has produced restrictions; the water accounting is still pending.