Telangana CM Revanth targets his Maharashtra counterpart over Tummidihatti, slams Centre over paddy procurement row

Hyderabad: Telangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy on Tuesday attacked the BJP over the proposed Tummidihatti barrage and the central government’s response to paddy procurement issues during a public meeting in Kagaznagar.

On the barrage, Revanth Reddy urged Maharashtra’s chief minister to set a date for talks, warning that Maharashtra would face consequences if farmers protested. He said the Tummidihatti barrage would irrigate 2.5 lakh acres in Adilabad district and, if completed, could supply water to hundreds of thousands of acres by gravity flow. He contrasted this with the multi-crore Kaleshwaram project, which, he said, has not provided water to a single acre in Adilabad.

Revanth Reddy noted that Telangana had proposed the Tummidihatti barrage as part of the Dr B R Ambedkar Pranahita–Chevella Sujala Sravanthi Project. The original plan envisaged a barrage height of 152 metres, but Maharashtra agreed during an inter-state board meeting on August 23, 2016 to a height of 148 meters and had pledged cooperation in obtaining clearances. After recent consultations with senior officials and irrigation experts, the Telangana government concluded that a Full Reservoir Level (FRL) of 148 meters would be insufficient to meet North Telangana’s water needs, prompting renewed calls to revisit the issue.

On paddy procurement, the chief minister reiterated that the state government would buy every grain, including moisture-affected paddy. He said Telangana has already procured 7.5 million metric tonnes of paddy and accused the Union government of ignoring calls to procure harvested crops despite announcing a Minimum Support Price (MSP).

Revanth Reddy singled out Union Minister G Kishan Reddy for his silence and warned that if the Centre did not respond, the state would symbolically dump procured paddy outside the minister’s residence on June 15. He added that it would become “extremely difficult” for Kishan Reddy to move freely in Telangana if the central government failed to take responsibility for procurement.

The chief minister appealed to farmers to back the state’s demands and assured them the government was ready to purchase all grains, including those affected by moisture.

Responding, Union Minister of State for Home Affairs Bandi Sanjay Kumar accused the chief minister of creating disputes for political gain and diverting attention from the state government’s six guarantees and its handling of paddy procurement. The BJP leader questioned Revanth Reddy’s claim that Maharashtra was refusing him a meeting, noting that the state had cooperated with Telangana on the Kaleshwaram project. He offered to help arrange a meeting if Revanth Reddy was unable to secure one himself and advised him to maintain cordial ties with neighbouring states.

On procurement, Sanjay said the Centre acts on reports submitted by the state and challenged Telangana to formally write to the Prime Minister if it believed the Centre was not procuring paddy. He also criticised the state government’s strategy on the issue.