BRS alleges ‘criminal negligence’ in govt’s handling of drought
Hyderabad: Bharat Rashtra Samithi (BRS) MLC Dasoju Sravan Kumar on Wednesday, October 28, accused the Congress government in Telangana of “criminal negligence” in handling the drought in the state.
A day earlier, the government had issued an order notifying 365 mandals as drought-hit for Kharif 2026, with 111 of them categorised under ‘severe drought’ and 254 under ‘moderate drought’.
The MLC said that while neighbouring Andhra Pradesh declared drought in 388 mandals on October 1, Telangana’s notification came much later and that too as a “callous declaration without any firm commitment”.
He criticised the government for constituting a Cabinet sub-committee for El Niño on October 19, even though warnings had been issued since May.
He also sought to know what the government’s policy was on drought relief, how much budget had been allocated and how much had been released.
“The GO astonishingly names no budget, no input subsidy rate and no allocation from the State Disaster Response Fund. A list of mandals in the gazette is not relief to a farmer. It is only an irresponsible eyewash!!!” Dasoju Sravan stated in an X post.
🔥Telangana Govt is indulging in criminal negligence in handling the El Niño drought.
— Prof Dasoju Sravan Kumar (@sravandasoju) October 28, 2026
💥The neighbouring state of AP declared drought in 388 mandals on Oct 1, Telangana's https://t.co/Xhxw1VAO0S.03 came only on Oct 27 that too a callous declaration without any firm
commitment.… pic.twitter.com/AAleaiJFvm
Urban areas ignored in drought notification: Sravan
He stated that the notification is valid only for six months, while the government’s own officials say the crisis will last till June 2027.
He also pointed out that urban areas had been “completely ignored” and struck off the drought list and were only being treated “on par” for drinking water needs.
He further pointed out that the order called for input subsidy to be paid only after Central NDRF funds arrive. He claimed that Karnataka had waited till April 2024 for its 2023 drought aid to arrive and still got less than a fifth of what it had sought.
‘Govt can’t outsource a disaster’
He recalled that on September 18, the Telangana Assembly had passed a resolution seeking its SDRF share, 50 more work days under VB-G RAM G at full Central cost, 1,500 MW power, a Rs 20,000 cr package and a higher borrowing limit.
“Thirty-six days later, the GO commits not one rupee from the state’s exchequer. A govt can’t outsource a disaster,” his X post stated.
He added that in July, the government’s own El Nino expert committee gave a Rs 802.92 cr contingency plan for seeds, drip irrigation, fodder and drinking water; however, three months on, no sanction has been reported.
He also slammed the government for asking the Collectors to take up loan restructuring with bankers instead of providing state interest relief.
He pointed out that Kaleshwaram command mandals in Siddipet, Sangareddy, Nizamabad and Mancherial are drought-hit while its pumps sit idle.
“Even Mahadevpur, where Medigadda stands, is drought-hit, as the Godavari water even today massively flows to the sea,” he said.
He has demanded that the state declare an El Niño drought policy immediately, lift the Godavari water under expert supervision and pay input subsidies to farmers from the state funds. He has also asked for a drinking water plan till June 2027.
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