Revanth Confronts Centre on Crop and Water Issues
Telangana Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy launched a direct political attack on the central government over ongoing agricultural and irrigation disputes. Speaking during a public address in the Kumuram Bheem Asifabad district, the Chief Minister expressed strong dissatisfaction with the slow pace of grain purchasing across the state. He specifically targeted Union Ministers for failing to support local farmers, stating that the central administration must take immediate responsibility for purchasing harvested paddy and maize.
The Chief Minister issued a strict ultimatum regarding the procurement delays, warning of large-scale protests if the issue remains unresolved. He stated that if the central government does not intervene to expedite the grain purchases by mid-June, state leaders and farmers would take their protest directly to the doorsteps of Union Ministers. This statement has significantly heightened political tensions between the state’s ruling party and the central leadership over rural development and agricultural welfare.
In addition to crop procurement, the Chief Minister raised serious concerns over inter-state water sharing and ongoing barrage disputes. He criticized the central government for its past decisions regarding state borders, particularly the transfer of several villages to neighboring Andhra Pradesh for the Polavaram project. He argued that while the Centre acted swiftly on that matter, it has consistently ignored Telangana’s requests to secure necessary land from Maharashtra to complete the crucial Tummidihatti barrage project.
The completion of the Tummidihatti project remains a highly sensitive issue as it holds the potential to provide vital irrigation to over two lakh acres of farmland in the backward Adilabad region. The Chief Minister emphasized that the central government’s lack of cooperation is actively harming local agricultural growth. He concluded his address by demanding immediate structural interventions from the Centre to resolve both the crop procurement deadlock and the pending inter-state irrigation approvals.
