Telangana irrigation expert R. Vidyasagar Rao dies aged 77

Irrigation expert and Advisor to the Telangana Government R. Vidyasagar Rao, died after prolonged illness at a private hospital in Hyderabad on Saturday. He was 77.

He was a close associate of Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao from the initial days of the lateral phase of the Telangana movement since 2001. Vidyasagar Rao played a key role in highlighting the injustices done to the Telangana region in the matter of sharing water resources from the beginning of the region’s merger with Andhra to create Andhra Pradesh in 1956, while preparing a report submitted on behalf of Telangana Rashtra Samithi (TRS) to Justice Srikrishna Commission appointed by the Centre after 2009 to look into the demand for statehood to Telangana.

Appointed as Advisor to the Telangana Government immediately after its formation in June 2014, Vidyasagar Rao also had a significant role in the re-engineering and redesigning of irrigation projects, particularly the prestigious project of Kaleshwaram taken up to utilise Godavari water by remodelling Pranahita-Chevella project.