Congress government’s plan to re-inaugurate Devadula questioned

Former Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah questioned Uttam Kumar Reddy’s knowledge of the project’s history and issues, suggesting that Reddy might have been poorly briefed by officials

Hyderabad: Dismissing the Congress government’s plans for the irrigation sector in the State as ‘much ado about nothing’, BRS leader and former Irrigation Minister Ponnala Lakshmaiah questioned the proposed re-inauguration of the Devadula project upon its completion in March 2026, with AICC leader Sonia Gandhi slated to attend the occasion.

Irrigation Minister N Uttam Kumar Reddy reviewed the project works at the site and announced that the project would be completed by March 2026.

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Lakshmaiah criticized this plan, recalling that Sonia Gandhi had already dedicated the project to the nation during Y S Rajasekhara Reddy’s tenure as Chief Minister in 2008.

Lakshmaiah, who was the Irrigation Minister in Rajasekhara Reddy’s cabinet at that time, emphasized that the project had already begun addressing the irrigation needs of the region.

He questioned Uttam Kumar Reddy’s knowledge of the project’s history and issues, suggesting that Reddy might have been poorly briefed by officials. He urged the Minister to update himself on the facts about irrigation projects in Telangana.

Lakshmaiah noted that during the review held at the project site, the Irrigation Minister appeared to lack a comprehensive approach to addressing the project’s issues. The review focused primarily on providing water to 98,000 acres in the Bhongir parliamentary constituency, neglecting the concerns of farmers in the rest of the command area.

Lakshmaiah argued that a review held at the Secretariat could have been more effective. Farmers under the project had raised concerns about inefficient water resource management and the project’s real potential.

Despite the onset of the monsoon three months ago, the pumping units in all three phases of the project were not fully operational. Only two units in Phase Three were activated after farmers’ protests, with one more unit recently added to operations, he pointed out.