Hyderabad: Irrigation and civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Monday attacked the BRS for spreading misinformation about irrigation projects and categorically sought to refute allegations that the Congress government handed over control of Telangana’s projects to the Krishna River Management Board (KRMB).
Addressing a press conference at Dr B.R. Ambedkar Telangana Secretariat, Uttam Kumar Reddy said: “The Congress government took charge on December 7, 2023, and in the past 56 days, the proposal was never considered, and the government would never hand over the control to KRMB.”
He said that the then TRS government should have insisted on a bigger share of Krishna water for Telangana in 2014. “In river basins, river water sharing is decided based on catchment area, drought-prone area, population, and cultivable area. However, injustice was done to Telangana on all parameters,” he said.
Reading out the minutes of the KRMB meeting, he pointed out that it was the BRS government that agreed to hand over the projects to KRMB, and the same was reflected in the documents of the 2023-24 Budget presented by K. Chandrashekhar Rao. He cited the BRS government allocating `200 crore for maintenance.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said: “It was the KCR government that facilitated the AP government to float tenders for the Rayalaseema Lift Irrigation schemes by postponing the Apex Council meeting.”
He criticised the Chandrashekar Rao government for failing to utilise about seven TMC ft of Krishna water that comes to Telangana and allowing Andhra Pradesh to draw 8 TMC ft per day from Srisailam. He highlighted that on May 5, 2020, the AP government issued GO No 203 in this regard.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said that the KCR government wasted public money in the guise of irrigation projects.
“The Kaleshwaram project was constructed by spending about `95,000 crore, but not even one lakh acres were irrigated. With the Medigadda and other two barrages suffering damages, the entire project has come to a standstill. Similarly, the cost of Palamuru Rangareddy was escalated, and despite spending `27,500 crore, not a single acre was cultivated. All projects in undivided Mahbubnagar district, like Kalwakurthy, Bhimasagar and Koyal Sagar, were kept pending,” he said.
The minister also rapped BRS leader T. Harish Rao for questioning his role in the Telangana statehood movement.
He said that Telangana became a reality due to the all-party meeting convened by the then Union home minister P. Chidambaram, and he had played a crucial role in it. He alleged that BRS leaders were “blackmailers” even during the statehood movement.
Uttam Kumar Reddy alleged that AP Chief Minister Jagan Mohan Reddy, at the instance of Chandrashekar Rao, deliberately sent forces to Nagarjunasagar ahead of Assembly elections in a bid to influence the electoral outcome.
