Telangana govt. giving less than 8 hours power supply with interruptions to farm needs: Harish Rao

HYDERABAD

Former minister and Deputy Leader of the BRS Legislature Party T. Harish Rao has alleged that the Congress government is not giving even eight hours of power supply to the agriculture without interruptions, and the logbook maintained at the Gattu substation in Jogulamba-Gadwal district is a testimony.

During a visit to the substation on Wednesday, he went through the power supply details recorded in the logbook and it had clearly stated that the farm connections were given power for 7 hours 50 minutes with three interruptions in between on October 13.

He stated that the consumers in urban areas and those of industrial category were being given sufficient power supply, while farmers were giving only a few hours of supply, that too with low-voltage. Earlier, Mr. Harish Rao along with the party leaders visited farm fields where standing crops dried due to erratic power supply.

Mr. Harish Rao said coming days would be even worse to the farm sector as the government had transferred all farm connections to the new Discom and allocated 85% of energy needed from solar and hydel sources. While solar power would be available only during the day time, hydel power was purely seasonal which could be generated only when the reservoirs have ample water.

During a visit to Induvasi village to console the families whose members died in a road accident near Yadgir in Karnataka while going there in search of wage work, two of them died and two suffered serious injuries, he demanded that the State Government announce an ex-gratia payment of ₹10 lakh each to the families of the deceased since it had failed to provide wage employment here and made them to migrate.

He stated that their (BRS) government had completed 80% of head works of the Palamuru-Rangareddy Lift Irrigation Scheme but the Congress Government had failed to complete the remaining works. Completion of small works in Package-3 would have allowed lifting of 50 tmc ft water this year to fill online and balancing reservoirs since reservoirs, tunnels, pump-houses and sub-stations were completed in the past itself.

Neighbouring Andhra Pradesh was taking Krishna water from Srisailam reservoir to areas 700 km away outside the basin but the Telangana Government had failed to utilise water despite having the network, he stated.