Telangana Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Saturday asserted that the Congress government would not permit construction of controversial Banakacharla project by AP government under any circumstances. He said the State has opposed the project through every channel - including direct communication and written objections to the Centre.

Speaking to reporters in Hanamkonda after offering condolences to MLA Donthi Madhava Reddy on his mother’s demise, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the Revanth Reddy-led Congress government is committed to protecting Telangana’s rightful share in Krishna and Godavari river waters. Telangana had formally conveyed its objections on the Banakacharla project to Union Jal Shakti Minister C.R. Patil. "Telangana, Maharashtra and other co-basin states have opposed it. Yet Harish Rao claims otherwise. His statements are completely false", he added.

Besides, the Minister reiterated that Telangana would not support the proposal to raise the Almatti dam height by Karnataka government. "For us, Telangana’s water rights come first - irrespective of which party rules the neighbouring Karnataka, Andhra Pradesh or Maharashtra states", he added.

Slamming former Minister T. Harish Rao, Uttam Kumar Reddy said, "Every word he speaks is false. The injustice in Krishna and Godavari allocations happened during the ten-year BRS rule, not under our 21-month Congress government." In fact, former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao and then Irrigation Minister Harish Rao had consented to give Andhra Pradesh 512 TMC of Krishna water while settling for only 299 TMC for Telangana. This written agreement was submitted to the Centre. The loss occurred under BRS", he remarked.

Uttam further said that the Congress government has rejected those allocations and demanded for a 70 percent share for Telangana before the Tribunal. "I personally appeared before the Tribunal - the only Irrigation Minister in India to do so in such a dispute,” he noted and said that the Telangana government demanded 70 percent of 811 TMC at 75 percent dependability and 734 TMC out of 1,005 TMC at 65 percent dependability. Strong arguments have been presented both in writing and in person", he added.

Criticising the BRS’s handling of Godavari waters, Uttam Kumar Reddy said, "Their only project, Kaleshwaram, has collapsed. Medigadda barrage is damaged, Sundilla and Annaram have cracks, and not a drop of water has been lifted in 21 months. Despite that, Telangana recorded 148.5 lakh metric tonnes of paddy this season - the highest in the country - with the Congress government set to procure 80 lakh tonnes."

On this occasion, he also promised to complete all pending projects in the united Warangal district, including Devadula, and praised public support for the Warangal airport project, which he said would transform the city.