Former irrigation minister and senior BRS leader T. Harish Rao on Mondaydemanded that the irrigation department immediately utilise the pumps thatare part of the Kaleshwaram lift irrigation scheme (KLIS) and provide reliefto farmers facing severe challenges for irrigating their fields. In a letter to irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy, Harish Rao said ifall the KLIS pumps were switched on, various reservoirs – includingAnnapurna, Ranganayakasagar, Mallannasagar, Konda Pochammasagar, andNrusimha (Baswapur) reservoir – could be filled which in turn couldirrigate around 4 lakh acres of crop land. Farmers were facing severe distress due to low rainfall caused by El Nino onone side and the failure to fill the reservoirs in the projects on time onthe other, resulting in crop cultivation not progressing, Harish Rao said. Floodwaters coming into the upstream reaches of these reservoirs can beharnessed by using the various KLIS pumphouses, he said. ⁠Similarly, if water was pumped from Mid Manai to the Lower Manair Dam,farmers receiving irrigation water from the SRSP Stage II could benefit, headded.