Telangana has asked the Union government to step in and ensure the state receives its rightful share of water from the Tungabhadra project, reviving a long-running grievance over how the river’s flows are divided between southern states.
Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy has urged New Delhi to intervene, arguing that Telangana is not getting anywhere close to what it is entitled to. On paper, the state is allocated 15.9 thousand million cubic feet (TMC) from the Tungabhadra system. In practice, officials say, actual inflows have been running at only five to six TMC, leaving farmers in the tail-end areas short of irrigation water at a critical time.
A central part of the problem lies at the Rajolibanda Diversion Scheme (RDS), where water meant for Telangana is not flowing through at expected levels. The state blames heavy siltation on its side of the scheme, which has choked the channel and reduced its carrying capacity. The issue is not new: an expert committee had recommended desilting the structure as far back as 2004, but the work was never completed.
To break the logjam, the government has decided to formally request the Centre to act on desilting on a priority basis and to seek the cooperation of the Karnataka government, since the river and its infrastructure cut across state lines. Without coordination between the two states, officials concede, engineering fixes on one side alone will not deliver the promised share.
The demand has sharpened the political temperature at home. Opposition leaders, including BRS figure T. Harish Rao, have warned the Chief Minister against any compromise on Telangana’s water rights, framing the issue as a test of how firmly the government will defend the state’s interests against its neighbours.
Water disputes in the Krishna and Tungabhadra basins have simmered for decades, fuelled by competing claims, ageing infrastructure and erratic monsoons. Each shortfall translates directly into anxiety for farmers who depend on assured releases to plan their crops.
For the Revanth Reddy government, the Tungabhadra question is both a practical and a political one: deliver more water to parched fields, while being seen to stand up for the state. By pushing the matter to the Centre, Telangana is signalling that it wants a durable, inter-state solution rather than another season of shortfalls.
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