Water war has slogans; Telangana needs scorecards
The Congress government and BRS are trading claims over irrigation projects and river shares. The missing item is the one that could settle the argument: current project-wise data.
The proposed scorecard is still awaiting project-wise figures.
Telangana’s water fight has acquired two familiar ingredients: a ministerial vow and a proposed mass mobilisation. It is still waiting for a scoreboard.
Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy was reported to have inspected the R-9 Lift Irrigation Scheme in Suryapet on September 6 and said Telangana would defend its Krishna and Godavari claims before tribunals, the Krishna River Management Board and other forums. He also said projects should be judged by water delivered and assured ayacut, not merely by expenditure. The Congress government’s January release says pending Palamuru-Rangareddy works will be completed, but gives no project-wise progress table or completion date.
BRS president K. Chandrashekar Rao was reported to have proposed a mass campaign over irrigation and drinking water, focusing on Kaleshwaram and Palamuru-Rangareddy. The timetable, route and formal programme remain unpublished. The BRS says Palamuru-Rangareddy was about 80% complete during its government and that finishing it would enable 60 TMC utilisation; those figures are not established by a current official progress sheet.
The Irrigation department says it collects project, utilisation and ayacut data. Publishing that data in one common table would settle more than another round of speeches. For now, the Congress government has supplied promises, the BRS has supplied mobilisation plans, and Telangana is still owed the arithmetic.