Demolition of Munneru check dam reflects Congress’s destructive governance: Khammam BRS

BRS leaders protested the demolition of the Munneru check dam in Khammam, alleging political vendetta and warning of future water shortages. They demanded immediate restoration of the structure and warned of a public agitation if the government failed to act

Khammam: The demolition of a check dam built across the Munneru river at Prakashnagar in Khammam city by the Congress government is evidence of a destructive administration that disregards public interest, alleged the district BRS leaders.

The party leaders, Gundala Krishna, Bachu Vijay Kumar, Pagadala Nagaraju, Bathula Murali Prasad and MA Qamar, along with party activists, visited the check dam site and staged a protest on Wednesday.

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The leaders stated that the demolition of the check dam showed the government’s incompetence, ill-conceived decisions and lack of foresight. They alleged that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy was acting with the intent to erase traces of development works undertaken during the tenure of former Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao.

They alleged that district ministers Tummala Nageswara Rao and Ponguleti Srinivas Reddy were implementing the same policy. The Munneru check dam was constructed at a cost of around Rs 8 crore during the BRS government’s tenure on the initiative of former minister Puvvada Ajay Kumar to ensure long-term drinking water security for Khammam city.

As a result, groundwater levels in the Munneru catchment area increased significantly and improved water availability across the city. But the Congress ministers demolished it out of political vendetta, disregarding public interest and without any alternative plan of action, they alleged.

The move puts Khammam city at risk of losing groundwater reserves and facing a possible drinking water crisis in the future. The district ministers and the government must bear responsibility for this, the leaders said.

The construction of a retaining wall stretching 17 kilometres along both sides of the Munneru at a cost of approximately Rs 525 crore was initiated by the previous BRS regime. Its completion would provide the city with protection against future floods.

However, the check dam was razed, misleading the public with false claims that the structure was the cause of the flooding in 2023, even though it was built after officials and Irrigation Department engineers conducted a comprehensive survey and prepared technical reports, they alleged.

The government should take measures on a war footing to restore the water storage capacity of the Munneru stream by constructing a check dam. If it failed to respond, a public movement led by the BRS would be launched, the leaders warned.