BRS leader Harish Rao on Thursday demanded drought relief for 12 lakh acres of affected farmland in Telangana. He inspected withered paddy fields in Burugupalli village and blamed the government for ignoring early warnings. Rao also urged officials to provide immediate compensation to farmers who got hit by crop losses.

SIDDIPET: Former minister and BRS deputy floor leader T Harish Rao on Thursday demanded the immediate declaration of drought-hit mandals in Telangana and crop loss compensation for farmers affected across 12 lakh acres.

He inspected withered paddy fields in Burugupalli village of Gajwel mandal, where farmers complained of inadequate irrigation water and erratic power supply. Addressing a press conference, he accused Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy and Deputy Chief Minister and Power Minister Bhatti Vikramarka of remaining indifferent to the drought situation.

Harish urged the government to allocate funds to district collectors to address water shortages in villages and towns and involve MLAs, sarpanches and councillors in relief efforts.

He said scientists had warned nine months ago of possible drought conditions due to El Nino, but the government had ignored the warnings. He criticised the government for citing difficulties in procuring electricity and questioned its inability to arrange water. He also demanded the rollback of electricity bill and RTC fare hikes, alleging that they had imposed an additional burden of Rs 5,420 crore on the public.

Questioning the chief minister's reviews of power supply and threats to suspend officials, Harish said the responsibility lay with the government.

He alleged that political considerations had prevented the operation of Kannepalli motors and the round-the-clock running of Devadula and Kalwakurthy motors. Citing an affidavit filed by the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA) in the High Court, he said the decision to lift water from the Kaleshwaram project rested with the government.

He alleged that farmers in Gajwel, Dubbak, Siddipet, Medak, Ramayampet, Bhongir and Yadadri were suffering as crops withered. Cotton farmers in Adilabad, Nalgonda, Medak, Karimnagar, Mahabubnagar and Khammam had also suffered losses, he said.

Sangareddy MLA Chinta Prabhakar, MLC Pratap Reddy and others accompanied him.