Plans afoot to make Kothagudem-Palvancha a municipal corporation: Bhatti
Kothagudem: Deputy Chief Minister Mallu Bhatti Vikramarka on Thursday wondered why villages and towns were not getting proper drinking water, if the previous state earlier government had spent Rs 42,000 crore on Mission Bhagiratha.
Laying foundation stone for works related to drinking water, which have been taken up in Kothagudem at a cost of Rs 124 crore under AMRUT 0.2, he said that the people should think about where the Rs 42,000 crore had gone when even now crores were required to augment drinking water schemes. He ridiculed the BRS government claims that Mission Bhagiratha would cater to the needs of the people up to 2030. He pointed out that they had not provided irrigation facilities to even a single acre of land although they spent Rs 6,000 crore on the Sitarama project.
“Despite financial crunch, the Congress government is committed to fulfill all poll promises. It has extended Rs 7,500 crore to farmers under Rythu Bandhu after coming to power. Crop loans of farmers would be waived off much before the date announced by the Chief Minister,” he added.
He informed that they were actively considering elevation of Kothagudem-Palvancha as a municipal corporation. He said that the stage-I to stage-IV thermal units of the Kothagudem power plant that remain would be revived using super critical technology. He assured to take the plea of local MLA Kunamneni Sambashiva Rao for an IT tower at Kothagudem to the notice of IT minister D. Sridhar Babu.
Revenue minister Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy said that the earlier BRS government had made bombastic statements on drinking water supply but had failed to quench the thirst of the people in the state. He said that the Congress would deliver a pro-people and pro-farmers government.
Road and buildings minister Komatireddy Venkat Reddy said that the road over bridge (RoB) at Kothagudem was one among the proposed 12 ROBs, which would soon be sanctioned by the Centre. Works of converting national highway no. 65 from Malkapur to Kodad would begin in September, which, once completed, would reduce the travel time between Hyderabad and Vijayawada.
Stating that the time of elections was completed, Stating that they would ignore baseless allegations leveled by opposition parties, he said that they instead focus on the development and welfare of the people.
Agriculture minister Thummala Nageshwar Rao said that the modalities of rythu bharosa would be finalised after taking the suggestions of farmers into consideration. He said that the state government intended to extend investment support to cultivating lands.
MLAs Kunamneni Sambasiva Rao and Koram Kanakaiah and district collector Jitesh V. Patil also attended the program.