Hyderabad: Tourism Minister Jupally Krishna Rao on Tuesday rejected BRS claims that the Palamuru-Rangareddy project was 90 percent complete during the previous government’s tenure.
Addressing a press conference at the CLP media centre in the Assembly, Krishna Rao criticised BRS leaders for planning a padayatra from Narlapur to Uddandapur over pending irrigation works in the former Mahabubnagar district.
He recalled that former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao had promised in 2015 to complete the Palamuru-Rangareddy project within two years. However, Krishna Rao said the irrigation scheme remained incomplete even after 10 years.
The Minister stated that the previous government earmarked nearly ₹35,000 crore for pumps, motors and surge pools. However, officials spent only around ₹25,000 crore on the project works.
Krishna Rao also alleged that the BRS government failed to secure approvals for the main canals and distribution systems linked to the irrigation project. According to him, the state would now require nearly ₹1 lakh crore to complete the remaining works.
Ministers question progress of Palamuru-Rangareddy project
Krishna Rao further alleged that the previous government failed to secure allocation of 90 TMC water for the Palamuru-Rangareddy project. He asserted that the Congress government would ensure the required allocation for Telangana.
In addition, the Minister accused the earlier administration of compromising Telangana’s share in Krishna River waters. He claimed that former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekhar Rao and former Irrigation Minister T. Harish Rao had accepted that 299 TMC water was sufficient for the state.
According to Krishna Rao, the Congress government was now demanding a 62 percent share in Krishna River waters for Telangana.
Sports Minister Vakiti Srihari also criticised the previous government over delays in the irrigation scheme. He said the BRS administration made major promises but failed to complete several works.
Srihari claimed authorities took up only 18 out of 21 project packages, while three packages remained neglected. He also alleged that the government utilised less than half of the proposed budget.
Furthermore, he said people in Palamuru had lost trust in BRS leaders because of repeated delays in completing irrigation projects.
Government Whip Yennem Srinivas Reddy and MLAs Dr Vamsi Krishna, Kasireddy Narayana Reddy, Dr Rajesh Reddy, G Madhusudan Reddy, Megha Reddy and Veerapalli Shankar attended the press conference.
