Drought stirs political clash in Telangana Premium

Telangana faces political heat amid drought conditions and water scarcity, intensifying ahead of Lok Sabha elections.

As the mercury crosses 43 degrees C in different parts of Telangana this summer season, the political heat is not left far behind ahead of the May 13 Lok Sabha election.

The withering of crops due to lack of water for irrigation has been exacerbated by the war of words between the Opposition Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) and the ruling Congress party over the drought conditions.

Tempers were already fraying between the two parties for the last few weeks, particularly over the defections allegedly encouraged by the ruling party, which has officially admitted three BRS MLAs and given one of them a ticket to contest the election and to the daughter of another MLA.

The Congress has also given tickets to a sitting MP and the wife of an MLC, both of the BRS, adding fuel to the political fire.

The slug-fest took off on October 22 last, after the sinking of a few piers of Medigadda Barrage of the much talked about Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project on the evening of October 21. Perhaps, the incident sowed the seeds of heightened friction between the two parties especially given that the lifting back of water from the project barrages was necessary to keep drought conditions at bay.

The Opposition party is of the view from the beginning that water could have been lifted back with the help of a coffer dam at Medigadda from December first week to avoid scarcity when the standing crops were hit hard with lack of water/moisture to reach harvesting stage with expected yield.

Leaders of the ruling party blamed the previous BRS regime for the current situation, stating that water was not available from the Kaleshwaram project due to problems in Medigadda Barrage and deficit rainfall this water year.