Skip to main content
telangana.ai
Blog

Explainer · Irrigation

Kaleshwaram and Medigadda: a fact-based survey

Why Telangana built the world-scale Kaleshwaram lift irrigation project, how it was designed and paid for, what it delivered, why the Medigadda barrage failed in 2023, what every inquiry found, and where things stand in October 2026. Every fact is sourced; every claim is attributed.

Published 23 October 2026 · updated 26 October 2026 · 40 min read

Aerial view of a long pump house building beside a fore-bay of water, with farmland behind
The Lakshmi (Medigadda) pump house at Kannepally, the first lift of the Kaleshwaram project. Still from a video by Megha Engineering and Infrastructures (MEIL), the contractor that built most of the pump houses, released under Creative Commons Attribution.

In short.

  • What it is: the Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project (KLIP) lifts Godavari water from Medigadda, about 100 metres above sea level, to reservoirs up to 618 metres, through three barrages, 31 lifts and about 1,832 km of canals, tunnels and pipelines.1
  • The plan: 18.26 lakh acres of new irrigation, plus water for Hyderabad and industry.1
  • The cost: the Central Water Commission (CWC) cleared it in 2018 at ₹80,190 crore. The Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) put the likely final cost at ₹1.47 lakh crore, and its benefit-cost ratio at 0.52.1
  • What it delivered: the Congress government’s white paper and the BRS’s own figures agree that about 98,600 acres of new canal irrigation had been created. They disagree on how much else to credit to the project.23
  • The failure: on 21 October 2023, piers of the Medigadda barrage sank. The National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) found all three barrages “unserviceable”.4
  • The inquiry: a judicial commission blamed former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao. The High Court later made its findings against him and three others inoperative.56
  • Now: in October 2026 none of the barrages holds water. The government’s latest timetable is to start repairs by the end of December 2026 and finish before the 2027 monsoon, “subject to technical clearances”.7

This article sets out what is known, from official audits, inquiry reports, court orders and established news reporting. Where the two governments that ran the project, the Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) government until December 2023 and the Congress government since, disagree, both positions are given, attributed to them. telangana.ai takes no side.

Updated 26 October 2026. New in this version:

  • the repair designs and the timetable announced on 24 October, and how the target dates have moved;
  • the argument over water passing Medigadda in a dry year;
  • the Tummidihatti talks with Maharashtra;
  • where the CBI inquiry and the Supreme Court appeal stand;
  • a new section, The numbers in context, which puts the costs, the water lifted and the repair bill side by side.

Explore the project: every barrage, pump house and reservoir on an interactive map, with the climb from 100 m to 618 m.

Why Telangana wanted the water

Water was at the heart of the movement for a separate state. When K. Chandrashekar Rao (KCR) launched it in 2001, its slogan was neellu, nidhulu, niyamakalu: water, funds and jobs.8 Telangana’s farmland sits on the Deccan plateau, well above the Godavari and Krishna rivers that cross it, so gravity canals reach only part of it. Before statehood, the main Godavari scheme in the region was the Sriram Sagar Project, begun in 1963.

By the 2010s, the existing Godavari projects (Sriram Sagar stages I and II, Nizam Sagar, Singur and the Sriram Sagar flood-flow canal) were meant to irrigate about 18.83 lakh acres, but ran short of water. The Kaleshwaram project report assumed a 25 per cent shortfall in them, and planned to top them up.1 In its reply to the auditors in 2023, the state government described the original scheme as providing “permanent irrigation facilities” to “drought prone areas”.1

The Godavari river, wide and calm, seen from a riverside ghat at Manthani The Godavari at Manthani, on the stretch between the Kaleshwaram barrages. Photo: P. Madhusudan, CC0.

From Pranahita-Chevella to Kaleshwaram (2007 to 2016)

The first plan. In May 2007 the government of the then combined state of Andhra Pradesh formulated the Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Pranahita-Chevella Sujala Sravanthi project.

May 2007 December 2008 revision
Water lifted 160 TMC from the Pranahita 180 TMC (20 TMC more from the Godavari)
Irrigation 12.21 lakh acres 16.40 lakh acres, in seven districts
Cost ₹17,875 crore ₹38,500 crore
Headworks A barrage at Tummidihatti, at a full reservoir level of 152 metres

Works were split into 28 packages and awarded in 2008 and 2009. By March 2016, ₹11,642.85 crore had been spent “with none of the components completed”, the CAG found.1

Two problems at Tummidihatti.

  • Water. The project report relied on a 2009 Central Water Commission letter giving 236.53 TMC at the site. In January 2013 the CWC said that letter “was not issued by it”. In March 2015 it put the water available at Tummidihatti at 165.38 TMC, including 63 TMC of “perceived surpluses” from upstream states that “might not be available in future”.1
  • Maharashtra. The neighbouring state objected to submergence on its side and in May 2015 asked for the barrage to be lowered to 148 metres. The project report said this would cut live storage from 4 TMC to 1 TMC, too little to draw 160 TMC.1

The redesign. In June 2016 the new Telangana government decided to “re-engineer” the scheme. It cited “short availability of water at the source and insufficient reservoir storage capacities”.1

  • The headworks moved about 20 km downstream of Kaleshwaram village, to Medigadda, below the point where the Pranahita joins the Godavari. There the CWC assessed 284.3 TMC of water at 75 per cent dependability.1
  • The first link became a smaller, separate Pranahita project at Tummidihatti. The rest became the Kaleshwaram project.1
  • On 23 August 2016 the Chief Ministers of Telangana and Maharashtra signed an agreement covering a Medigadda barrage at 100 metres and Tummidihatti at 148 metres.9

The redesign was contested from the start, and still is.

  • At the time:
    • A study commissioned by the Telangana Joint Action Committee argued there was “enough water” at Tummidihatti with a 148-metre barrage, and that Medigadda would add about ₹1,253 crore a year in electricity for the same water.10
    • Activists in Maharashtra called the pact a “historical injustice”.9
  • The CAG (2024):
    • Moving the source meant lifting 195 TMC a further net 48 metres.
    • It added ₹21,897 crore of capital cost.
    • It left ₹767.78 crore of abandoned works.
    • The auditors “could not find any evidence” that the department had assessed what a 148-metre barrage at Tummidihatti could supply.1
  • The Justice P.C. Ghose Commission (2025) found the shortage-of-water reason was not “sincere or honest”. It said a committee of retired engineers formed in January 2015 had advised against Medigadda and suggested Vemanapally.11
  • The BRS view:
    • Harish Rao, then Irrigation Minister, says that committee objected only to pumping straight from Medigadda to Mid Manair. He says Tummidihatti had only 44 TMC at 148 metres, while the CWC confirmed about 282 TMC at Medigadda.12
    • KCR told the Commission the site change “was not a political decision”, but a technical one.13

How the project works

The project lifts water in stages, from the Godavari’s lowest point in Telangana to reservoirs on the plateau. It is divided into seven links and 56 packages, with three barrages, 14 new reservoirs, 31 lifts and about 1,832 km of canals, tunnels and pipelines (1,629 km of canals and 203 km of tunnels in the CAG’s count).1

How the water climbs: the main chain

  1. Medigadda (Lakshmi) barrageOn the Godavari below the Pranahita confluence. Full reservoir level 100 m above sea level; storage 16.17 TMC. Kannepally (Lakshmi) pump house lifts water upstream.
  2. Annaram (Saraswati) barrageStorage 10.87 TMC. Saraswati pump house lifts water onward.
  3. Sundilla (Parvati) barrageStorage 8.83 TMC. Parvati pump house lifts water into Yellampalli.
  4. Sripada Yellampalli reservoirWhere the second link begins.
  5. Nandi Medaram and Gayatri (Ramadugu) pump housesGayatri is underground: seven pumps of 139 MW each, about 2 TMC a day.
  6. Sri Rajarajeshwara (Mid Manair) reservoirAn existing reservoir used for transit (25.87 TMC).
  7. Anantagiri, Sri Ranganayaka Sagar, Sri Komaravelli Mallanna Sagar and Kondapochamma SagarMallanna Sagar holds 50 TMC. The chain ends at about 618 m above sea level: a total lift of 518 m.

Simplified; the project has seven links, and other links and canals branch off this chain. Sources: CAG Report No. 1 of 2024; MEIL.

Water. The project was to draw 240 TMC a year:

Source TMC a year
Medigadda 195
Yellampalli 20
Groundwater 25

It was to use that water for:

Use TMC a year
Irrigation 169
Hyderabad’s drinking water 30
Industry 16
Villages along the route 10
Lost to evaporation 12

Planned new irrigation was 18,25,700 acres, besides topping up the older projects.1

Power. Pumping that much water uphill takes a great deal of electricity. The project report planned 20 lifts drawing 4,627 MW. Later additions raised installed capacity to 8,459 MW.1 When the Gayatri pump house opened in 2019 it was described as among the largest pumping stations in the world; that is the builder’s and the government’s description, and telangana.ai has found no independent ranking.14

A third TMC a day. The pumps were first built to move 2 TMC a day. From 2019 the government added works for a third TMC a day, at ₹28,151 crore. The CAG called this “unwarranted”. The state government said it was needed to lift the full 195 TMC during the short flood season.1

Large green pipe outlets along a concrete channel at the Medigadda pump house Delivery pipes at the Medigadda (Lakshmi) pump house, August 2019. Photo: Burra Manohar Goud, CC BY-SA 4.0.

A wide lined canal carrying water through cut earth and scrub A Kaleshwaram project canal. Still from a video by the contractor MEIL, CC BY 3.0.

Building it: approvals, contracts and opening day

  • 26 August 2016: the contract for the Medigadda barrage was signed, with two years of defect liability and five years of operation and maintenance.15
  • August 2016: the Kaleshwaram Irrigation Project Corporation Ltd (KIPCL) was incorporated to raise loans for the project.1
  • Contracts:
    • The three barrages were built by L&T PES-JV (Medigadda), Afcons (Annaram) and Navayuga (Sundilla).16
    • Most pump houses were built by MEIL.17
    • The CAG found that 17 works worth ₹25,049.99 crore were awarded before the project report was approved.1
  • Approvals:
    • A hydrological clearance came in October 2017.1
    • Environmental clearance followed on 22 December 2017.18
    • The CWC’s technical advisory committee cleared the project in June 2018, at ₹80,190.46 crore.19
  • 21 June 2019: KCR inaugurated the project at Medigadda and switched on the Kannepally pump house. Governor E.S.L. Narasimhan and the Chief Ministers of Maharashtra (Devendra Fadnavis) and Andhra Pradesh (Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy) attended.20
  • The environment case:
    • In October 2017 the National Green Tribunal briefly stayed construction pending clearances.21
    • In its final order of 20 October 2020 it held that “the EC has been granted ex post facto in violation of legal requirement for prior EC” and ordered an expert committee to assess the damage done from 2008 to 2017.18

The people displaced.

  • Mallanna Sagar, the largest reservoir, affected 14 villages; eight were to be fully submerged, including Vemulaghat.22
  • Protests: villagers began a relay hunger strike in June 2016. On 24 July 2016 police used batons and fired warning shots at protesters near Pallepahad; about 25 people were hurt.23
  • Courts: the High Court ruled on the government’s land-purchase order several times.22
  • Rehabilitation: by March 2022, 8,947 families displaced by Mallanna Sagar, Kondapochamma Sagar and Anantagiri had been relocated, at ₹1,238.60 crore. Mallanna Sagar was built without the site-specific seismic study the government’s own design office had advised; the government replied that the site lies in a low seismic zone.1

A calm reservoir behind an embankment, with low hills on the horizon Sripada Yellampalli reservoir, where the project’s second link begins. Photo: Naveenmuthyala, CC BY-SA 3.0.

What it cost, and how it was paid for

The figures depend on what is counted (the original scheme or the redesigned one, with or without interest), so they are listed with their basis.

Estimate Amount Source
Pranahita-Chevella, 2008 ₹38,500 crore CAG1
Kaleshwaram, CWC clearance, June 2018 ₹80,190.46 crore CAG1
Administrative approvals given by March 2022 ₹1,10,248.48 crore CAG1
Likely final cost, including interest during construction ₹1,47,427.41 crore CAG1

Spending had reached ₹86,788.06 crore by March 2022, the CAG found.1 The Congress government’s irrigation white paper of February 2024 put it at ₹93,872 crore.2

Borrowing outside the budget. Most of the money was borrowed by KIPCL, with state guarantees, rather than spent from the budget.

  • Loans: by March 2022 KIPCL had raised ₹87,449.15 crore in loans at 7.8 to 10.9 per cent interest.1 The state’s December 2023 finance white paper shows ₹74,590 crore outstanding on 1 December 2023, at an average interest rate of 9.69 per cent.24
  • Revenue: KIPCL has no income of its own: the CAG noted it had received ₹6.92 crore by September 2023, against projected revenue of thousands of crores a year, so “the burden of repayment of the loan and interest is likely to fall on the State Budget”.1
  • Debt service: the CAG projected repayments of ₹1,41,544.59 crore over 14 years from 2022-23, an average of about ₹10,110 crore a year.1
  • Repaid so far: in the Assembly in September 2025, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy said ₹49,835 crore had been repaid, including nearly ₹30,000 crore of interest, with about ₹60,000 crore still owed.25
  • Relief: the Union Finance Ministry has said relief on interest rates “can be considered only after the project is completed”.26

Running costs.

  • Electricity: the CAG found the project report had assumed electricity at ₹3 a unit when lift schemes were paying ₹6.40. At full use, the project would need about ₹10,375 crore of electricity a year plus ₹273 crore of maintenance, about ₹46,364 an acre.1
  • Benefit-cost ratio:
    • The CWC’s clearance projected 1.51.
    • The CAG recalculated it at 0.75 on the cost then approved, and 0.52 on the likely final cost: “every rupee spent on the project would yield only 52 paise”.1
    • The BRS government replied that its own revised ratio was 1.731.
    • The CAG said that even with its own adjustments it came to 0.813.1

What it delivered: the claims and the counter-claims

This is the most contested part of the story. The two sides broadly agree on one number and disagree about the rest.

New irrigation.

  • CAG: new irrigated area created by March 2022 was 40,888 acres against the target of 18.26 lakh acres. The report also prints 40,288 in one chapter.1
  • Congress government: its white paper of February 2024 put new ayacut (irrigated command) at 98,590 acres.2
  • BRS: Harish Rao, citing Irrigation Department reports, put new canal ayacut at 98,570 acres, close to the white paper. To it he adds:
    • water for 1.67 lakh acres through 2,143 tanks;
    • further area through tanks and check dams;
    • 17.08 lakh acres “stabilised” under older projects;
    • in all, irrigation “for 20.33 lakh acres”.3
  • CAG on the stabilisation claim: the CAG did not accept counting the filling of tanks and check dams, because the project’s main objective was new irrigation.1

Water lifted. No official year-by-year series is published.

  • Uttam Kumar Reddy (current Irrigation Minister), at Medigadda:

    Year TMC lifted
    2019-20 61
    2020-21 31.82
    2021-22 33
    2022-23 25.97
    2023-24 8.93

    He says this totals 162 TMC, of which about 63 TMC flowed out to sea in floods.27

  • Harish Rao, for the period up to 2022-23, cites 162.41 TMC at Medigadda and higher totals at the pump houses further up the chain. Those are counts at successive stages, not new water.27

  • The design: 195 TMC a year at Medigadda.1

Crops and groundwater.

  • Telangana’s paddy output has grown strongly. Critics and supporters disagree on why.
  • The BRS credits the project, Mission Kakatiya (the tank restoration programme) and the groundwater they recharged.28
  • Revanth Reddy credits “good monsoons” and the spread of borewells, and points out that output stayed high after the barrages stopped working.29
  • Independent analysts note that net irrigated area roughly doubled between 2014-15 and 2020-21, in years of good rain, and that canal networks to carry project water to fields were incomplete.30 Telangana’s net irrigated area went from 17.26 lakh hectares to 33.64 lakh hectares in that time.
  • telangana.ai found no peer-reviewed study that separates the project’s effect from rainfall, tanks and borewells.

A reservoir viewpoint with railings, and water stretching to low hills Kondapochamma Sagar, the highest point of the main chain. Photo: Kullatan Kin, CC0.

21 October 2023: the Medigadda barrage

What happened.

  • 6:20 pm: an engineer at the barrage heard “a loud sound”. He found piers in Block 7 damaged; the slabs and parapet wall on pier 20 had “disturbed and sunk”.31 The barrage is about 1.6 km long, and the damaged section lies near the Maharashtra side. The bridge across it to Gadchiroli sagged and was closed.31
  • Emptying: officials opened the gates to release about 10.7 TMC so the piers could be inspected. The Engineer-in-Chief said one pier had sunk “possibly by over a foot”, and blamed heavy inflows in the preceding fortnight.32
  • The police case: police registered a case against unknown persons under the law on damage to public property.31
  • How many piers: the police complaint names piers 19 to 21. The dam safety authority’s report counts six damaged piers, 16 to 21.33

The two other barrages. Seepage and “boiling” (sand being pushed up from under the foundations) were found downstream of the Annaram barrage, which the NDSA called “a precursor to failure”. Leaks from under the foundations were also found at Sundilla.33

The investigations

National Dam Safety Authority, November 2023. A team of the NDSA, the national regulator under the Dam Safety Act 2021, found:

  • the main cause was “settlement of the barrage raft”;
  • there were deficiencies in “planning, design, quality control and O&M”;
  • “The barrage has been designed as a floating structure but constructed as a rigid structure”;
  • “the barrage under the present condition is rendered useless until fully rehabilitated”.

It advised against filling the reservoir and asked for Annaram and Sundilla to be examined urgently.33 The BRS government, then still in office, called the letter “unsubstantiated or made without a full appreciation of the facts”.34

Expert committee and final NDSA report. In March 2024 the NDSA set up a five-member expert committee, chaired by former CWC chairman J. Chandrasekhar Iyer, to examine all three barrages.35 Its final report, submitted on 24 April 2025, found:

  • “extensive debilitating damages” and called the barrages “unserviceable”;
  • design deficiencies and construction defects in all three;
  • sand piping and cavities under the raft foundations;
  • “premature grouting” that had altered conditions underground;
  • flawed model studies.

It recommended:

  • a “holistic rehabilitation design” for all three barrages;
  • safe removal or stabilisation of Block 7 at Medigadda;
  • fresh geotechnical, hydraulic and structural studies.

“There should be no compromise on project designs and data under any circumstances,” it said.436

Vigilance.

  • Interim report (February 2024): the state’s Vigilance and Enforcement department cited “negligence, failure to carry out inspection and maintenance despite being informed of damages”. It said a concrete block had been dislodged in 2019, four notices sent to L&T between 2020 and 2023 had not led to repairs, and the contract’s defect liability period had been started early. L&T said it had told the department of damage from May 2020.15
  • Recommendations (June 2025): the State Vigilance Commission recommended criminal action against 17 officials and L&T-PES, and penalties for 33 engineers.37
  • Arrests: separately, the Anti-Corruption Bureau arrested three former senior irrigation engineers in 2025 in disproportionate-assets cases.38

The CAG audit. The CAG audit covers the project to March 2022 and was tabled in February 2024. It is the source of most cost figures above.1

The Justice P.C. Ghose Commission.

  • Set up: the Congress government set it up in March 2024, as a one-member commission of inquiry headed by a former Supreme Court judge, into the planning, design, construction and maintenance of the three barrages.
  • Witnesses: more than a hundred witnesses deposed. Harish Rao appeared on 9 June 2025 and KCR on 11 June 2025.13
  • Report: submitted on 31 July 2025. It found:
    • KCR “directly and vicariously accountable for the irregularities and the illegalities”;
    • he was “pre-determined and bent upon” building at Medigadda;
    • he and Harish Rao had “intentionally not considered” the engineers’ committee report;
    • adverse findings against former Finance Minister Eatala Rajender (now a BJP MP).
  • On L&T: it held that the contractor should restore Block 7 at its own cost.5
  • Response: the BRS rejected the report. Harish Rao called it “trash”.39

The Assembly and the CBI.

  • 31 August 2025: the report was tabled in the Assembly.
  • 1 September 2025: after a debate past midnight, Revanth Reddy announced that the case would go to the Central Bureau of Investigation. He cited inter-state aspects and the involvement of central agencies such as WAPCOS, PFC and REC.39 A government order followed.40
  • The BJP: it had earlier demanded a CBI inquiry, and now says the inquiry’s terms are too narrow.41
  • October 2026: senior CBI officers met in New Delhi to discuss the legal implications of the Ghose Commission report, and were “likely to take a decision soon”.42 telangana.ai found no report that the CBI has registered a case.
  • A police inquiry again? On 22 October 2026 BRS general secretary R.S. Praveen Kumar said the party would ask the Director General of Police for a special investigation team into what it calls an explosion at the barrage in 2023. “The case should not have been closed as undetected,” he said of the police case, closed in 2025.43

The courts.

  • 2 September 2025: the High Court ordered that “no investigative action should be taken based on the Justice PC Ghose Commission report”.44
  • 22 April 2026: a bench of Chief Justice Aparesh Kumar Singh and Justice G.M. Mohiuddin held that the Commission was validly constituted. But the findings against the petitioners (KCR, Harish Rao and two senior officers), reached without following the procedure the law requires for persons likely to be affected, were “inoperative”, and no action could be taken on them.6
  • Appeal: on 23 April 2026 the state government decided to challenge the verdict in the Supreme Court through a special leave petition.45 telangana.ai could not confirm that the petition has been filed or listed.
  • Who decides on pumping: in an affidavit to the High Court in August 2026, the NDSA was reported to have said that decisions on pumping were outside its mandate and rested with the state government. Tests by the Central Water and Power Research Station (CWPRS) reportedly found no major defects in concrete quality at Annaram and Sundilla.46

The contractor.

  • L&T’s position: L&T said in December 2023 that it could not repair the barrage free of charge, as the defect liability period had ended.47
  • The government’s notice: in November 2025 the government served a notice demanding repairs at L&T’s cost and threatening blacklisting.48
  • Agreement and dues: L&T agreed in December 2025 to take up repairs, while noting payments still due to it.49 In April 2026 it was reported to be insisting on a fresh agreement, and the government had cancelled the completion certificate issued to it earlier.50 About ₹460 crore was reported owed to L&T in October 2026.51

Where things stand (October 2026)

  • No water held: none of the three barrages has held water since late 2023. The government says they will be used only after rehabilitation.52
  • No pumping from Medigadda:
    • In July 2026 the government refused BRS demands to run the Kannepally pump house. Uttam Kumar Reddy said the NDSA had “categorically prohibited” it.53
    • Revanth Reddy said “lifting water is not possible” without storage behind the barrages.54
  • Who says so: on 24 October 2026 Uttam Kumar Reddy said the NDSA had “specifically instructed the State to keep the gates” of the three barrages open.7 In the High Court in August the NDSA was reported to have said that pumping decisions rest with the state (see above).46
  • Partial pumping: the upper part of the system, from Yellampalli through the Nandi and Gayatri pump houses, has been run in the monsoon season.55 By 9 August 2026 about 11 TMC had been lifted to the Mid Manair reservoir, at 12,600 cusecs through four motors.56

The repair design.

  • Who: the Union Jal Shakti Ministry formed a Technical Oversight Committee. Designs are being prepared with the consultant AFRY and IIT Bombay, with model studies at CWPRS Pune, and need vetting by the CWC.5758

  • Block 7: on 14 October 2026 the committee concluded that Block 7 at Medigadda should be removed completely and rebuilt rather than repaired, with drawings to be prepared within 15 days. Designs for Annaram and Sundilla reportedly received in-principle approval.59

  • The works, as reported on 9 October:58

    • a new, longer stilling basin below each barrage (the apron that slows water released through the gates), with all 86 piers at Medigadda extended to its edge;
    • two cut-off walls, a smaller one upstream and a deeper one downstream;
    • a longer raft on the upstream side, and grouting to strengthen the ground;
    • clearing sand that in places lies three to five metres deep, before work begins.

  • Longer stilling basins, as given by Uttam Kumar Reddy on 24 October:7

    Barrage Now Planned Change
    Medigadda 46.8 m 66 m +41%
    Annaram 45 m 66 m +47%
    Sundilla 30 m 58 m +93%

    The change is telangana.ai’s arithmetic.

Cost.

  • The repairs: the three barrages “could cost around Rs 2,500 crore” to restore, more than ₹700 crore of it for Medigadda. Rebuilding Block 7 costs more than strengthening it.51 In April 2026 the same newspaper had put the cost at ₹1,000 to ₹1,200 crore.50 The government’s 24 October roadmap gave no figure.7
  • Unpaid bills: more than ₹800 crore is owed to the contractors: about ₹460 crore to L&T for Medigadda and about ₹170 crore each to the agencies for Annaram and Sundilla. Contractors reportedly want their dues settled before taking up fresh work.51

Timing. The target has moved several times:

Said on Works start Barrages working Source
10 June 2026 June 2027 Uttam Kumar Reddy57
27 September 2026 November 2026 State government52
9 October 2026 “at least one year, if not more” Officials, unnamed58
15 October 2026 after designs are vetted Block 7: one to two years Officials, unnamed59
24 October 2026 by end-December 2026 before the 2027 monsoon, “subject to technical clearances” Uttam Kumar Reddy7

The 24 October roadmap: concept designs completed by the end of September, estimates and approvals by the end of October, contractors mobilised by the end of November, works from the end of December.7

A dry year, and the argument over water at Medigadda

The drought. Telangana’s rain from 1 June to 1 October 2026 was 615.6 mm against a normal of 746.3 mm, 18 per cent short, and its reservoirs held about 200 TMC against a normal of 462 TMC.60 On 15 October Revanth Reddy asked farmers to put off the rabi (Yasangi) crop: “Save water, save power. This is our magic mantra.”60

The argument.

  • BRS: on 24 October a BRS delegation at the Kannepally pump house said more than 750 TMC of Godavari water “had flowed into the sea since June”, and that pumping at least 250 TMC would have filled reservoirs and lakes.61 A BRS delegation on 25 October said “20,000 cusecs of water” was flowing past unused.62 The party has also asked for a temporary coffer dam at Medigadda so that water can be lifted.43
  • Congress: MLA Medipally Satyam said 17,900 cusecs was passing the barrage at 6 pm on 25 October, with all 85 gates open. The Kannepally pumps need the river at +93.50 metres, he said, and it stood at +89.20.63
  • Uttam Kumar Reddy said the impact of El Niño “would have been much less severe” had the Pranahita-Chevella and other projects been completed.64
  • BJP: Kondapally Sridhar Reddy, its Kisan Morcha state president, asked why the government did not “foresee this problem”.60 In the Assembly in September, BJP floor leader Alleti Maheshwar Reddy asked for a firm schedule for the repairs, and for the government to “either restore Kaleshwaram or take up the Tummidihatti project”.65

What the figures show. Both sides agree that water is passing the barrage. On the Congress MLA’s figures the river was 4.3 metres below the level the pumps need, so pumping would mean closing gates and holding water behind the barrage: the step the NDSA advised against in November 2023, and which the government says must wait for the repairs. Whether a smaller measure, such as the coffer dam the BRS proposes, could safely do it has not been assessed in any public technical report telangana.ai could find. The BRS figure of 750 TMC is not from a published official series.

What comes next

  • Designs and approvals: the final rehabilitation designs need approval from the CWC and the NDSA, then tenders.57
  • Who pays: whether L&T bears the repair cost, and how contractors’ pending dues are settled, is unresolved.51
  • The criminal inquiry: depends on what the CBI does, and on whether the state’s appeal against the High Court verdict reaches the Supreme Court.426
  • Tummidihatti:
    • The Congress government has ordered a revised plan for the original barrage site, calling it “technically superior, economically viable and energy-efficient”. Uttam Kumar Reddy said the original scheme needed about 3,466 MW of power against about 8,450 MW for Kaleshwaram.66
    • 1 September 2026: at talks chaired by CWC chairman Anupam Prasad, Telangana proposed a barrage at 152 metres; the 2016 agreement with Maharashtra was for 148 metres. No decision was taken, and Telangana agreed to share submergence data.6768
    • 26 October 2026: Revanth Reddy and Uttam Kumar Reddy met Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis in Mumbai. He proposed a joint committee of officials, headed by the two states’ irrigation principal secretaries, to examine the height, water availability, submergence, affected farmland and compensation. Maharashtra’s support depends on the project not harming Maharashtra or its people.68
    • The BRS view: Harish Rao says “There is not enough water at Tummidihatti”, citing the CWC’s finding that the 160 TMC planned for was not available there, while “As much as 240 tmc ft a year” is available at Medigadda. He says the government plans to spend about ₹25,000 crore on the barrage and a lift to Sundilla.69
    • No detailed project report has yet been approved.
  • The debt: repayments will continue for years whether or not the barrages work again.1

The numbers in context

The figures below are telangana.ai’s arithmetic on the sourced numbers above. Each depends on its basis, which is stated.

Cost per acre of new irrigation. The answer depends on which acreage is counted, which is the main point of dispute.

Spending Acres counted Per acre
₹86,788 crore, to March 2022 (CAG) 40,888 acres of new irrigation (CAG) about ₹2.1 crore
₹93,872 crore (white paper, February 2024) 98,590 acres of new ayacut (white paper) about ₹95 lakh
₹93,872 crore (white paper) 20.33 lakh acres, including tanks and “stabilised” area (BRS) about ₹4.6 lakh

The highest figure is about 46 times the lowest. All three use spending so far, not the final cost, for a project whose canal network is not complete.123

Water lifted against the design. On the Irrigation Minister’s figures, 162 TMC was lifted at Medigadda in the five years from 2019-20, against a design of 195 TMC a year. That is about 17 per cent of five years’ design. The best year, 2019-20, was 61 TMC, about 31 per cent.271

The repair bill in proportion. About ₹2,500 crore for the three barrages is:

  • about 2.7 per cent of the ₹93,872 crore spent on the project;2
  • about a quarter of one year’s average debt service on the project’s loans (₹10,110 crore a year, CAG);1
  • about 11 per cent of the Irrigation Department’s whole budget for 2026-27, ₹22,615 crore.70

The 2026-27 state budget does not show Kaleshwaram’s loans separately. It lists ₹86,309 crore of loans raised by all state special-purpose companies and serviced by the government, as of 28 February 2026.70

Electricity. From 2019-20 to September 2025 the project used 9,384 million units of electricity. It was billed ₹13,156 crore, about ₹14 for each unit, and had paid ₹3,971 crore (about 30 per cent), leaving ₹9,185 crore unpaid, according to Hyderabad Mail. The report does not break the bills down.71 For comparison, the CAG estimated about ₹10,375 crore a year of electricity at full use.1

Where the parties stand

K. Chandrashekar Rao K. Chandrashekar Rao, Chief Minister 2014 to 2023, under whom the project was built. Photo: Pranayraj1985, CC BY-SA 4.0.

T. Harish Rao T. Harish Rao, Irrigation Minister 2014 to 2018, BRS. Photo: Batthini Vinay Kumar Goud, CC BY-SA 4.0.

A. Revanth Reddy A. Revanth Reddy, Chief Minister since December 2023, Congress. Photo: Batthini Vinay Kumar Goud, CC0.

N. Uttam Kumar Reddy N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Irrigation Minister since December 2023, Congress. Photo: Batthini Vinay Kumar Goud, CC BY-SA 4.0.

What it says
Congress (state government since December 2023) The project was planned and built badly and at great cost. Those responsible must be held to account. Repairs will follow the dam safety authority’s advice: “There will be no compromise on structural safety,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.52 Revanth Reddy has accused the BRS of “mudslinging politics and misleading the people”.54
BRS (state government 2014 to 2023) The project transformed irrigation and farm output, and its benefits are being played down. The damage was limited and repairable: “With repairs to two piers, even Medigadda barrage will also work just fine,” Harish Rao said.72 After the High Court verdict, K.T. Rama Rao said: “Not the project, but the Congress’ false narrative has collapsed.”73
BJP (in government at the Centre) It sought a CBI inquiry from 2023.74 State president N. Ramchander Rao says the state government “failed to rehabilitate the barrages in time” and has narrowed the CBI’s terms of reference.41 In the Assembly its floor leader asked the government to “either restore Kaleshwaram or take up the Tummidihatti project”.65

What is agreed, and what is disputed

Agreed by both sides and the record Still disputed
The barrages were damaged in 2023 and have not held water since Whether the damage was mainly a design flaw, a construction defect, poor maintenance, or (as some BRS leaders allege) sabotage
The dam safety authority found all three barrages need rehabilitation How long and how costly the repairs will be, and who should pay
About 98,600 acres of new canal irrigation had been created How much more to credit to the project through tanks, groundwater and “stabilisation”
The project was financed largely through loans that the state budget must repay Whether the cost was justified by the benefits
Moving the headworks to Medigadda was a choice made in 2016 Whether there was enough water at Tummidihatti, and whether the choice was technical or political
Godavari water is passing Medigadda unused in a dry year Whether any of it could safely be held and pumped before the repairs, and whose decision that is
Telangana and Maharashtra are discussing Tummidihatti again Whether there is enough water there, at what height, and at what cost

This survey was last updated on 26 October 2026. It will be updated as the repairs, the CBI inquiry and the court cases move forward.

Footnotes

  1. Comptroller and Auditor General of India, Performance Audit on Kaleshwaram Project, Report No. 1 of 2024, Government of Telangana, tabled 15 February 2024. https://cag.gov.in/en/audit-report/details/119638 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6 ↩7 ↩8 ↩9 ↩10 ↩11 ↩12 ↩13 ↩14 ↩15 ↩16 ↩17 ↩18 ↩19 ↩20 ↩21 ↩22 ↩23 ↩24 ↩25 ↩26 ↩27 ↩28 ↩29 ↩30 ↩31 ↩32 ↩33 ↩34 ↩35 ↩36 ↩37 ↩38 ↩39 ↩40

  2. Deccan Chronicle, “White paper says BRS govt left irrigation sector crumbling”, 17 February 2024 (Irrigation white paper presented by N. Uttam Kumar Reddy). https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/white-paper-says-brs-govt-left-irrigation-sector-crumbling-882507 ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5

  3. The South First, “Harish Rao defends Kaleshwaram project, accuses Congress of exaggerating collapse of Medigadda piers”, 7 June 2025. https://thesouthfirst.com/telangana/harish-rao-defends-kaleshwaram-project-accuses-congress-of-exaggerating-collapse-of-medigadda-piers/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  4. Deccan Chronicle, “KLIS barrages need extensive repair: NDSA”, 25 April 2025. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/telangana/klis-barrages-need-extensive-repair-ndsa-1875014 ↩ ↩2

  5. The News Minute, “PC Ghose Commission holds KCR responsible for irregularities in Kaleshwaram project”, 4 August 2025. https://www.thenewsminute.com/telangana/pc-ghose-commission-holds-kcr-responsible-for-irregularities-in-kaleshwaram-project ↩ ↩2

  6. The Federal, “Telangana HC bars action against KCR based on PC Ghose Commission findings”, 22 April 2026. https://thefederal.com/category/states/south/telangana/telangana-hc-bars-action-against-kcr-based-on-pc-ghose-commission-findings-240146 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  7. Telangana Today, “Uttam Kumar Reddy blames BRS for Telangana’s El Nino challenges”, 24 October 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/uttam-kumar-reddy-blames-brs-for-telanganas-el-nino-challenges ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4 ↩5 ↩6

  8. Telangana Today, “Centre indifferent to Telangana’s projects”, 22 January 2022. https://telanganatoday.com/centre-indifferent-to-telanganas-projects ↩

  9. Down To Earth, “How just is Maharashtra-Telangana pact on irrigation projects across Godavari?”, 23 August 2016. https://www.downtoearth.org.in/water/how-just-is-maharashtra-telangana-pact-on-irrigation-projects-across-godavari--55367 ↩ ↩2

  10. Biksham Gujja, Shiv Kumar and V. Kancharla, Kaleshwaram Lift Irrigation Project: Will it Benefit Telangana?, study commissioned by the Telangana Joint Action Committee, November 2016. http://www.agsri.com/images/documents/sri/KLIP-Report-Nov-2016.pdf ↩

  11. The News Minute, “Why the Kaleshwaram judicial probe blames KCR, Harish Rao, Eatala Rajender”, 5 August 2025. https://www.thenewsminute.com/telangana/why-kaleshwaram-judicial-probe-blames-kcr-harish-rao-eatala-rajender ↩

  12. Telangana Today, “Kaleshwaram built on expert advice, not political whim, says Harish Rao”, 5 August 2025. https://telanganatoday.com/kaleshwaram-built-on-expert-advice-not-political-whim-says-harish-rao-presents-facts-to-counter-congress-allegations ↩

  13. The Wire, “KCR before Kaleshwaram commission blames engineers for site shift”, 11 June 2025. https://m.thewire.in/article/government/kcr-kaleshwaram-commission-blames-engineers-shift-site/amp ↩ ↩2

  14. Megha Engineering and Infrastructures Ltd, Kaleshwaram Package 8 (Gayatri pump house). https://meil.in/node/73 ↩

  15. ThePrint, “Scathing vigilance report faults KCR govt, contractor for sunk Medigadda piers”, 8 February 2024. https://theprint.in/india/scathing-vigilance-report-faults-kcr-govt-contractor-for-sunk-medigadda-piers-defects-not-tended/1958940/ ↩ ↩2

  16. Deccan Chronicle, “L&T, Afcons flag issues over NDSA expert panel proposed”, 27 May 2025. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/telangana/lt-afcons-flag-issues-over-ndsa-expert-panel-proposed-1881506 ↩

  17. The Hans India, “World’s biggest pumphouse inaugurated at Lakshmipur”, 22 June 2019. https://www.thehansindia.com/business/worlds-biggest-pumphouse-inaugurated-at-lakshmipur-539945 ↩

  18. National Green Tribunal, Principal Bench, Md. Hayath Udin v. Union of India, Appeal No. 20 of 2018, order of 20 October 2020. https://www.livelaw.in/pdf_upload/pdf_upload-383129.pdf ↩ ↩2

  19. Deccan Chronicle, “Kaleshwaram project gets all CWC approvals”, 7 June 2018. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/070618/kaleshwaram-project-gets-all-cwc-approvals.html ↩

  20. The Hans India, “Kaleshwaram project inaugurated, dedicated to nation”, 21 June 2019. https://www.thehansindia.com/telangana/kaleshwaram-project-inaugurated-dedicated-to-nation-539874 ↩

  21. The News Minute, “Big blow to Telangana govt: NGT stays construction work of Kaleshwaram project”, 6 October 2017. https://www.thenewsminute.com/amp/story/telangana/big-blow-telangana-govt-ngt-stays-construction-work-kaleshwaram-project-69498 ↩

  22. Land Conflict Watch, “Construction of the Mallannasagar reservoir” (updated 8 April 2026). https://www.landconflictwatch.org/conflicts/construction-of-the-mallannasagar-reservoir ↩ ↩2

  23. The News Minute, “Mallanasagar project: farmers’ protest escalates, police lathicharge and fire warning shots”, 26 July 2016. https://www.thenewsminute.com/article/mallanasagar-project-farmers-protest-escalates-police-lathicharge-and-fire-warning-shots ↩

  24. Government of Telangana, White Paper on State Finances, December 2023. https://telangana.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2023/12/Telangana-State-Finances-White-Paper-English.pdf ↩

  25. The South First, “Charges, countercharges and a lone defence: Kaleshwaram row rages past midnight in Telangana Assembly”, 1 September 2025. https://thesouthfirst.com/news/charges-countercharges-and-a-lone-defence-kaleshwaram-row-rages-past-midnight-in-telangana-assembly ↩

  26. NewsMeter, “Kaleshwaram project: Union Finance Ministry says loan relief only after completion”, 4 August 2025. https://newsmeter.in/nation/kaleshwaram-project-union-finance-ministry-says-loan-relief-only-after-completion-752894 ↩

  27. Deccan Chronicle, “Kaleshwaram row heats up as Uttam, Harish trade charges over project failures”, 7 June 2025. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/telangana/kaleshwaram-row-heats-up-as-uttam-harish-trade-charges-over-project-failures-1883938 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  28. Telangana Today, “Groundwater data links Telangana paddy growth to Kaleshwaram project”, 17 May 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/groundwater-data-links-telangana-paddy-growth-to-kaleshwaram-project ↩

  29. ThePrint (PTI), “Bountiful paddy production in Telangana due to good monsoon, not Kaleshwaram project: CM”, 12 August 2026. https://theprint.in/india/bountiful-paddy-production-in-tgana-due-to-good-monsoon-not-kaleshwaram-project-cm/3013197/ ↩

  30. Newslaundry, “Telangana’s net irrigated area doubled since 2014. Can KCR’s irrigation projects take all the credit?”, 29 November 2023. https://www.newslaundry.com/2023/11/29/telanganas-net-irrigated-area-doubled-since-2014-can-kcrs-irrigation-projects-take-all-the-credit ↩

  31. The News Minute (IANS), “Telangana police file case over damage to Kaleshwaram project’s Medigadda barrage”, 25 October 2023. https://thenewsminute.com/telangana/telangana-police-file-case-over-damage-to-kaleshwaram-projects-medigadda-barrage ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  32. SANDRP, “Medigadda barrage of Kaleshwaram project in Telangana damaged in Oct 2023”, 24 October 2023. https://sandrp.in/2023/10/24/medigadda-barrage-of-kaleshwaram-project-in-telangana-damaged-in-oct-2023/ ↩

  33. The News Minute, “Kaleshwaram: dam safety team finds faults in Medigadda barrage, warns of more damage”, 3 November 2023. https://www.thenewsminute.com/telangana/kaleshwaram-dam-safety-team-finds-faults-in-medigadda-barrage-warns-of-more-damage ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  34. The Tribune, “National Dam Safety Authority letter on Medigadda barrage sent in haste, says Telangana government”, 5 November 2023. https://www.tribuneindia.com/news/india/national-dam-safety-authority-letter-on-medigadda-barrage-sent-in-haste-says-telangana-government-559722 ↩

  35. The South First, “NDSA sets up 5-member committee to inspect 3 damaged Telangana barrages”, 3 March 2024. https://thesouthfirst.com/telangana/ndsa-sets-up-5-member-committee-to-inspect-3-damaged-telangana-barrages-submit-report-in-4-months/ ↩

  36. Siasat, “NDSA report suggests safe removal of seventh block of Medigadda barrage”, 25 April 2025. https://www.siasat.com/ndsa-report-suggests-safe-removal-of-seventh-block-of-medigadda-barrage-3212535/ ↩

  37. The South First, “Kaleshwaram project: Vigilance Commission recommends criminal action against 17 officials, L&T-PES”, 3 June 2025. https://thesouthfirst.com/telangana/kaleshwaram-project-vigilance-commission-recommends-criminal-action-against-17-officials-lt-pes/ ↩

  38. ETV Bharat, “Telangana ACB nabs ex-irrigation chief in disproportionate assets case”, 16 July 2025. https://www.etvbharat.com/en/!state/telangana-acb-nabs-ex-irrigation-chief-in-disproportionate-assets-case-enn25071602552 ↩

  39. The Wire, “Telangana: CBI set to investigate irregularities in Kaleswaram project”, 1 September 2025. https://m.thewire.in/article/politics/telangana-cbi-set-to-investigate-irregularities-in-kaleswaram-project ↩ ↩2

  40. Deccan Chronicle, “Telangana govt issues GO entrusting Kaleshwaram project probe to CBI”, 2 September 2025. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/telangana/telangana-govt-issues-go-entrusting-kaleshwaram-project-probe-to-cbi-1901067 ↩

  41. Telangana Today, “BJP chief Ramchander Rao questions delay in Kaleshwaram rehabilitation”, 12 July 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/bjp-chief-ramchander-rao-questions-delay-in-kaleshwaram-rehabilitation ↩ ↩2

  42. The Hans India, “CBI begins probe into Kaleshwaram project”, 5 October 2026. https://www.thehansindia.com/news/cities/hyderabad/cbi-begins-probe-into-kaleshwaram-project-1128855 ↩ ↩2

  43. Telangana Today, “BRS seeks fresh probe into Medigadda barrage damage”, 22 October 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/brs-seeks-fresh-probe-into-medigadda-barrage-damage ↩ ↩2

  44. The South First, “Kaleshwaram case: Telangana HC prohibits coercive action against KCR, Harish Rao”, 2 September 2025. https://thesouthfirst.com/telangana/kaleshwaram-case-telangana-hc-prohibits-coercive-action-against-kcr-harish-rao/ ↩

  45. Andhra Jyothy, Telangana government to approach the Supreme Court over the Kaleshwaram verdict (in Telugu), 23 April 2026. https://www.andhrajyothy.com/2026/telangana/hyderabad/telangana-government-to-approach-supreme-court-over-kaleshwaram-verdict-sj-1516611.html ↩

  46. Telangana Today, “NDSA affidavit, CWPRS report put Congress government on tight spot on Kaleshwaram project”, 25 August 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/ndsa-affidavit-cwprs-report-put-congress-government-on-tight-spot-on-kaleshwaram-project ↩ ↩2

  47. Deccan Chronicle, “Medigadda returns to haunt BRS; company says can’t work for free”, 17 December 2023. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/nation/current-affairs/171223/medigadda-returns-to-haunt-brs-company-says-cant-work-for-free.html ↩

  48. Deccan Chronicle, “Govt warns L&T: fall in line on Medigadda repairs or face blacklisting”, 7 November 2025. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/telangana/govt-warns-lt-fall-in-line-on-medigadda-repairs-or-face-blacklisting-1915403 ↩

  49. M9 News, “L&T agrees to repair Medigadda barrage”, 31 December 2025. https://www.m9.news/politics/landt-agrees-to-repair-medigadda-barrage-telangana/ ↩

  50. Telangana Today, “Medigadda repair works remain in limbo”, 7 April 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/medigadda-repair-works-remain-in-limbo ↩ ↩2

  51. Telangana Today, “Three Kaleshwaram barrages may need Rs 2,500 crore for restoration”, 8 October 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/three-kaleshwaram-barrages-may-need-rs-2500-crore-for-restoration ↩ ↩2 ↩3 ↩4

  52. The Hans India, “Rehab of 3 Kaleshwaram barrages to begin by Nov”, 27 September 2026. https://www.thehansindia.com/news/cities/hyderabad/rehab-of-3-kaleshwaram-barrages-to-begin-by-nov-1125991 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  53. Telangana Today, “Uttam rejects BRS demand to operate Kannepalli pump house”, 5 July 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/uttam-rejects-brs-demand-to-operate-kannepalli-pump-house ↩

  54. Telangana Today, “Revanth Reddy rules out operating Kannepalli pump house, cites NDSA”, 11 July 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/revanth-reddy-rules-out-operating-kannepalli-pump-house-cites-ndsa ↩ ↩2

  55. Telangana Today, “Telangana govt begins pumping water in Kaleshwaram project”, 30 July 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/under-pressure-from-brs-telangana-govt-begins-pumping-water-in-kaleshwaram-project ↩

  56. Deccan Chronicle, “Two-day rain boosts water levels in Karimnagar projects”, 9 August 2026. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/telangana/two-day-rain-boosts-water-levels-in-karimnagar-projects-1977936 ↩

  57. NewsMeter, “Kaleshwaram’s Medigadda barrage to be fully operational by June 2027, says Uttam Kumar”, 10 June 2026. https://newsmeter.in/nation/kaleshwarams-medigadda-barrage-to-be-fully-operational-by-june-2027-says-uttam-kumar-769714 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  58. Deccan Chronicle, “Major revamps being planned to repair Medigadda barrage”, 9 October 2026. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/telangana/major-revamps-being-planned-to-repair-medigadda-barrage-1994295 ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  59. Andhra Jyothy, Medigadda barrage Block 7 to be demolished and rebuilt (in Telugu), 15 October 2026. https://www.andhrajyothy.com/2026/telangana/hyderabad/medigadda-barrage-block-7-demolition-reconstruction-kaleshwaram-project-telangana-1567539.html ↩ ↩2

  60. ThePrint, “Defer one crop cycle to save water, power: Telangana CM’s El Niño SOS leaves farmers furious”, 17 October 2026. https://theprint.in/agriculture/defer-one-crop-cycle-to-save-water-power-telangana-cms-el-nino-sos-leaves-farmers-furious/3074442/ ↩ ↩2 ↩3

  61. The Pioneer, “BRS MLAs warn to seize Telangana CM’s residency if Hyderabad drinking water crisis is not solved”, 24 October 2026. https://dailypioneer.com/telangana/brs-mlas-warn-to-seize-telangana-cms-residency-if-hyderabad-drinking-water-crisis-is-not-solved ↩

  62. The News Minute, “Telangana water crisis: BRS, Congress trade blame for being unprepared”, 26 October 2026. https://thenewsminute.com/telangana/telangana-water-crisis-brs-congress-trade-blame-for-being-unprepared ↩

  63. The Hans India, “Medigadda water row: Congress accuses KTR of misinformation”, 26 October 2026. https://www.thehansindia.com/news/cities/hyderabad/medigadda-water-row-congress-accuses-ktr-of-misinformation-1135775 ↩

  64. Siasat (PTI), “BRS irrigation failures worsened El Nino impact: Uttam”, 24 October 2026. https://www.siasat.com/brs-irrigation-failures-worsened-el-nino-impact-uttam-3563664/ ↩

  65. Telangana Today, “Kaleshwaram, Tummidihatti projects rock Telangana Assembly amid El Nino debate”, 18 September 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/kaleshwaram-tummidihatti-projects-rock-telangana-assembly-amid-el-nino-debate ↩ ↩2

  66. The Hans India, “Uttam pushes Tummidihatti revival, slams Kaleshwaram costs”, 8 July 2026. https://www.thehansindia.com/telangana/uttam-pushes-tummidihatti-revival-slams-kaleshwaram-costs-1094958 ↩

  67. The Hans India, “Inter-state talks on Tummidihatti barrage conclude on positive note”, 2 September 2026. https://www.thehansindia.com/news/cities/hyderabad/inter-state-talks-on-tummidihatti-barrage-conclude-on-positive-note-1116697 ↩

  68. Telangana Today, “Tummidihatti barrage: Maharashtra proposes joint committee with Telangana”, 26 October 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/tummidihatti-barrage-maharashtra-proposes-joint-committee-with-telangana ↩ ↩2

  69. Deccan Chronicle, “However sliced, Medigadda trumps Tummidihatti: Harish”, 26 October 2026. https://www.deccanchronicle.com/southern-states/telangana/however-sliced-medigadda-trumps-tummidihatti-harish-1999070 ↩

  70. Government of Telangana, Finance Department, Budget in Brief 2026-27. https://www.telangana.gov.in/wp-content/uploads/2026/05/Budget-in-Brief.pdf ↩ ↩2

  71. Hyderabad Mail, “Telangana power dues for lift irrigation cross ₹30,700 crore”, 25 December 2025. https://hyderabadmail.com/telangana-lift-irrigation-power-dues-30711-crore/ ↩

  72. Siasat, “‘Make me irrigation minister, I’ll show’: Harish Rao challenges govt”, 8 July 2026. https://www.siasat.com/make-me-irrigation-minister-ill-show-harish-rao-challenges-govt-3503693/ ↩

  73. Telangana Today, “Not Kaleshwaram, Congress’ lies collapse: KTR hits back”, 22 April 2026. https://telanganatoday.com/not-kaleshwaram-congress-lies-collapse-ktr-hits-back ↩

  74. The South First, “Will bring CBI to Telangana in 2 hours if KCR allows probe into Medigadda lapses, says Kishan Reddy”, 5 November 2023. https://thesouthfirst.com/telangana/will-bring-cbi-to-telangana-in-2-hours-if-kcr-allows-probe-into-medigadda-lapses-says-kishan-reddy ↩

How this article was made

Written from official reports, court and government records and reporting by established news outlets, each cited where it is used. Claims by governments and parties are attributed to them. telangana.ai is independent and takes no side; corrections are welcome on the Corrections page.

Image credits

Ctrl+K or / to open · arrow keys to move · Enter to open · Esc to close