Hyderabad: Kannepalli pump house should begin operations immediately as the Telangana government has adequate storage capacity but is refusing to release water, former minister G. Jagadish Reddy alleged on Monday.
Addressing a press conference with former minister Gangula Kamalakar and former MP B. Vinod Kumar, Jagadish Reddy claimed operating the pumps would help store up to 150 TMC of water. He accused the government of misleading farmers and deliberately delaying operations.
He challenged the government to hand over responsibility for operating the project to former Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao for one week. He claimed KCR could successfully run the pumps and prove the project’s capability. He also said the BRS would accept responsibility if any problem occurred during the exercise.
Kannepalli pump house at centre of political row
Jagadish Reddy alleged the National Dam Safety Authority had no role in the issue. He further claimed that if the government’s argument was correct, Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy and Irrigation Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy should also accept responsibility for the SLBC project.
He claimed engineers had informed the BRS that authorities had not operated the motors for nearly one year. Moreover, he alleged Uttam Kumar Reddy lacked a proper understanding of the project. He also accused Minister Duddilla Sridhar Babu of supporting the Chief Minister for political reasons.
Jagadish Reddy said BRS working president K. T. Rama Rao had recently demonstrated that the Kannepalli pump house was ready to protect Telangana’s irrigation needs. He described the Kaleswaram project as essential for meeting irrigation requirements during drought conditions.
Finally, he alleged the government avoided operating the pumps because of concerns over electricity costs, crop procurement and bonus payments. He said the people of Telangana would ultimately judge the government’s decisions.
