Hyderabad: Telangana topped the country in paddy production during the Kharif season, recording a yield of 153 lakh metric tonnes (LMT) from 66.77 lakh acres, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy announced on Sunday. The state’s farmers achieved this feat without using a single drop of water from the stricken Rs.1.4 lakh-crore Kaleshwaram project, thus puncturing the previous BRS government claims that the lift irrigation scheme had helped improve paddy production, he noted.
Following the sinking of Medigadda barrage, the first of the three under the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme (KLIS), in October last year, and subsequent damage to the Annaram and Sundilla barrages, the state government had avoided storage of water this year as it is feared that that could lead to the entire project being washed away. The damage and lapses in construction of the KLIS are now the subject of a commission of inquiry headed by Justice Pinaki Chandra Ghose.
During the BRS government, in 2020, paddy was cultivated in 52.51 lakh acres and production was 96.31 LMT. It grew to 62.14 lakh acres and 124.46 LMT in 2021, 65 lakh acres and 138.06 LMT in 2022 and 65.94 lakh acres 144.8 LMT last year. It was pointed out that without using the KLIS, the area under paddy increased to 66.77 lakh acres and the state recorded a yield of 153 lakh metric tonnes (LMT).
The Chief Minister, saluting farmers for the feat, reiterated that the Congress government was farmer-friendly and would provide them more benefits. “This production level is unparalleled, both in the history of undivided Andhra Pradesh and in the post-formation years of Telangana,” he said.
"Despite challenges such as three barrages under the Kaleshwaram project not being operational, Telangana achieved this remarkable feat. The Congress government provided financial benefits to the farmers. This milestone reflects Congress government’s unwavering commitment to supporting farmers and advancing agriculture,” Revanth Reddy said.
When the BRS was in power, the then chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao used to claim that the state was seeing increased paddy production due to the irrigation water provided from the Kaleshwaram project. The claim was repeated by the then finance minister T. Harish Rao. The then BRS government had claimed that when completed, KLIS would help irrigate a total of 18,25,700 acres. The then government also spent `1,47,427 crore on the project.
However, the Comptroller and Auditor General found fault with the then BRS government on irregularities of Kaleshwaram project and diverting funds without getting approvals. The cost of the scheme ballooned to `1,47,427.41 crore, as against the `81,911.01 crore that was projected to the Central Water Commission.
Against the targeted new command area of 18.26 lakh acres, the works entrusted till March 2022 included development of distributary network for only 14.83 lakh acres, the CAG had pointed out. The actual command area created by March 2022 was 40,888 acres.
A part of the Medigadda barrage collapsed due to the sinking of 20th pier in the seventh block. The parapet wall of the bridge from pier No. 21 to 16 collapsed due to ill-construction. Following the incident, A team of officials from the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) visited the project and submitted a report to the government and advised the government not to store a single drop of water at the barrage due to bad construction of the barrage.
