NDSA said ‘state decides’. Politics said otherwise

Harish Rao says the Congress government left Telangana facing a drought-like situation by refusing to run the Kannepalli pumps. The allegation deserves records, not a slogan war.

Reports on the Telangana High Court proceedings say the NDSA and CWC placed operational decisions with the state’s dam-safety organisation and project authority. The NDSA’s reported position was also that rehabilitation and safety assessment had to precede regular operation of the affected barrages. In July, the authority said it had “no role in operational or policy decisions on pumping water to farmers through the Kaleshwaram project”. (NDSA clarification)

That does not establish Rao’s sharper claim that the NDSA told the court water could safely be lifted and that the Congress government refused only out of political vendetta. No pump logs, inflow data, water levels, safety clearance or quantified irrigation estimate has been produced in the material reviewed. The government says pumping was barred until rehabilitation and certification; its target is July–August 2027. (NDSA affidavit report)

Telangana needs the records. The Congress government needs to publish them instead of making the public choose between a political allegation and an official explanation. So far, the only thing operating smoothly is the blame pump.