KCR destroyed irrigation in Telangana: Uttam

Hyderabad: Irrigation minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Sunday said BRS president and former chief minister K. Chandrashekar Rao “completely destroyed the irrigation sector in Telangana.”

Speaking at a press conference addressed by Chief Minister A. Revanth Reddy on Sunday, Uttam Kumar Reddy said: “After Rao spent around Rs 1.2 lakh crore on capital cost, and with a Rs 10,000-crore-a-year maintenance bill, all that Kaleshwaram project was designed for was to lift 2 TMC ft (thousand million cubic of water) a day.”

“Now, after Medigadda collapse, the entire project is of no use. Why is KCR silent on this and not uttered a single word?” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.

He said there were other projects the BRS government ignored to complete, like the SLBC tunnel project, which could have been completed at a fraction of Kaleshwaram’s cost and could have irrigated lakhs of acres.

“Rao spent Rs 2,756 crore on Palamuru-Rangareddy lift irrigation scheme but not a single acre was irrigated by the project so far. `7,500 crore was spent on Sitarama Sagar project without irrigating a single acre. And it is a clear case of conspiracy by KCR with Jagan (AP Chief Minister) which allowed AP to loot Telangana’s water from Krishna River,” Uttam Kumar Reddy said.