Former PCC chief and senior Congress leader Ponnala Lakshmaiah has alleged that not a single acre has been added to the cultivation under the four new projects – Kaleshwaram, Palamuru Rangareddy, Sitarama Lift Irrigation Scheme and Tupakula Gudem barrage taken up by the TRS government, and challenged the government for a debate on this.
At a press conference here, he said if Chief Minister K. Chandrasekhar Rao doesn’t want to come for the debate he can send any irrigation expert from Telangana or other States for the debate. He said the TRS government has spent ₹76,764 crore in the last six years and yet the entire irrigation was being done through the projects constructed by the previous Congress governments.
Mr. Lakshmaiah claimed that the water being lifted through Kaleshwaram now would have to be pumped into the sea ultimately as the projects would receive sufficient inflows from the rains. KCR is trying to hoodwink people through media blitzkrieg and constant leaks to the media organisations projecting Kaleshwaram project as a saviour for Telangana though it has not contributed to additional irrigation, he argued.
The Congress leader said the Irrigation Department statistics reveal that 41.21 lakh acres to be irrigated for Kharif 2021 were irrigation projects built by the previous governments. These include 37.19 lakh acres under Major Irrigation Projects (all built by the Congress governments) and 4.02 lakh acres under Medium irrigation projects (assuming all projects get filled), he claimed.
The major projects include SRSP – 1 (9.68 lakh acres), SRSP – 2 (3.72 lakh acres), FFC (0.20), Devadula (2 lakh acres); Kadem (0.60 lakhs), Mid Maner (0.52 lakhs), Nizamsagar (1.75 lakhs), Guthpa (0.39), Alisagar (0.54), Jurala (1.09 lakhs), Nettempadu (1.40 lakhs), Bhima (2 lakhs), Kalwakurthi (3.50 lakhs), Koilsagar (0.54), Nagarjunsagar (6.58 lakhs) and AMRP (2.68 lakhs).
Mr. Lakshmaiah also questioned as to why the Chief Minister is silent on the RDS project though he had made a hue and cry during the Telangana agitation. He alleged that KCR is being friends with AP Chief Minister Y.S. Jaganmohan Reddy at the cost the Telangana interests.
